


Klancember

by crisbarakart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Battle, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Character, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Male Character, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Comfort/Angst, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Flustered Keith (Voltron), Flustered Lance (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Male Character, Gay Panic, Holding Hands, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance Flirting, Long-Distance Relationship, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pick-Up Lines, Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith/Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Promises, Rivals, Roadtrip, Romantic Soulmates, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Soulmates, alterative universe, bisaster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crisbarakart/pseuds/crisbarakart
Summary: klancember prompts !!





	1. Beginnings, rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, back at The Feud, I thought I had seen drawings just as bad as yours.” Lance teased, Keith was leaning on the doorframe, a slight frown on his face. “I didn’t remember it was your drawings. Man, I had completely forgotten about this.”
> 
> Keith’s frown got deeper, Lance taking pride on how he had managed to annoy him with his teasing, smirking, and Keith walked closer. When he got to where Lance was, he looked down at his desk, then at Lance’s, before finally deciding to take a seat too.
> 
> “Your drawings weren’t precisely a masterpiece either, Sharpshooter.” Keith teased back, that smirk on his face that did things to Lance, that made him want to just drop the teasing and kiss Keith until their last breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i left the girlvember absolutely abandoned and i should finish that before jumping into something else (and i probs should stop torturing myself with this write-something-everyday challenges but oh well im dumb we been knew) but !! this was too cute to not do it and voltron is ending soon so im nostalgic and soft so... enjoy!!

Lance stood in the doorway of their old classroom. After the imminent battle that took place within their return to Earth, all the fighting and hurting, he had barely had time to truly acknowledge that they were finally back home. They were back at the Galaxy Garrison, where it all started. Lance smiled, looking at the last drops of sunlight falling upon what used to be his desk. Then, without notice, without really thinking about it, his eyes landed on the desk next to his; Keith’s desk. He felt that sensation in the pit of his stomach, that one that used to be so unfamiliar and unknown, that made him scream into his pillow whenever he found himself thinking about Keith when he was in the Blade of Marmora and he was in the Castle of Lions, but that, by now, it was almost like second nature.

He stepped into the classroom, coming close to his desk, and sat on top of it, his eyes on Keith’s beaten-up desk. The little drawings were still there, plastered on the wood surface with permanent marker and, if Lance stood up, he was sure he’d find similar ones on his own desk. Lance felt the tug of his lips, unable to contain a smile, as he reminisced how that had landed them both on detention –it was funny now, but back in the day it had him wishing they had competed for who was better at drawing using a sheet of paper instead of angrily doodling on tables, two hours of detention had been hell.

He ran a finger across one of the drawings, a badly drawn cat, drawn in shaky red pen. Lance chuckled. Red? Really? Was this some kind of premonition, some cosmic joke? He got off his desk, instead sitting on the chair, and smiled again when he saw it may have indeed been a premonition, because his drawings were marked in blue pen. His cat looked far better, though.

He felt that tug on his stomach again, different now, but still familiar. The nostalgia. Sitting there now, he sort of missed the old Garrison days. Days when Shiro, Keith, Hunk and him were in that school, just worrying about mundane things, when their biggest worry at the moment were exams. He vaguely wondered how things would’ve been had they all stayed. Would Pidge have even enlisted too? Lance supposed they probably would have, seeing both their dad and brother attended the Garrison. Yet, he doubted they would’ve gotten as close as they were now, without the forced bonding as a team that fought to defend the universe.

Those days were simpler, getting in trouble with Hunk, bickering and competing for everything with Keith; but then Keith left, and it took so long, so damn long, for Lance to understand why it had hurt the way it had hurt. He had spent weeks pretending everything was fine in front of everyone, acting as his usual goofy self, but not missing on the way his stomach hurt every time he thought of Keith, or how it all felt strangely _wrong_ without him around. 

He traced the red dog on Keith’s desk with his index finger, slowly.

“ _My cat just looks bad because I don’t usually draw cats, dogs are better!_ ” Keith had said, after vaguely admitting Lance’s cat was better. And he still recalled the bickering that statement had settled, starting an argument between Lance, a cat person, and Keith, an obvious dog person.

Everything had changed so much, but he couldn’t say he hated this turn of events. At least… he got to see Keith again. He got to be stuck on the same place with him once more, long enough to finally realize this time, that Keith was more than just a rival. That feeling in the pit of his stomach, familiar, yet louder as time went by, was the old feeling of missing that boy. It was how it felt when Keith wasn’t around and his whole self craved to see him again.

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you, Shiro wants to–.” Keith’s voice came as something familiar, something that belong there, it felt like someone coming back home after a long time, only to find everything where it used to be, awaiting for them. Lance didn’t answer, he was preoccupied looking at that horrible flower young Keith had drawn. It was all like discovering past memories, he had forgotten about all of those messy stokes, slightly blurry from when they had tried to erase them. “Lance?”

At the call of his name, the boy rose his head, looking at Keith with a faint smile, nostalgic but full of fondness.

“You know, back at The Feud, I thought I had seen drawings just as bad as yours.” Lance teased, Keith was leaning on the doorframe, a slight frown on his face. “I didn’t remember it was _your_ drawings. Man, I had completely forgotten about this.”

Keith’s frown got deeper, Lance taking pride on how he had managed to annoy him with his teasing, smirking, and Keith walked closer. When he got to where Lance was, he looked down at his desk, then at Lance’s, before finally deciding to take a seat too.

“Your drawings weren’t precisely a masterpiece either, _Sharpshooter_.” Keith teased back, that smirk on his face that did things to Lance, that made him want to just drop the teasing and kiss Keith until their last breath.

“Still better than yours, what the hell is up with that cat? It looks constipated.”

Keith laughed, and Lance couldn’t stop the smile from creeping on his face too.

“It feels so weird to be here, sitting here again, I feel like Iverson’s gonna come in from that door and send us both to detention again.” Keith said, light smile on his lips as he leant on the desk, one elbow resting on it as he rested his face on his hand, looking ahead of him.

He watched as Keith eyed the classroom, barely illuminated by now, his eyes on the blackboard. He imagined its surface full of notes, physics formulas that sometimes were so hard to understand. He could almost picture Keith, much younger, his mullet shorter and that galra mark gone, quickly taking notes. Lance would try to copy them, because you gotta know your enemy, but it all was so messy it made him wonder if even Keith was able to understand that himself. And then, defeated, he’d look at Keith. The fluorescent lights illuminating his pale face on a sleepy morning, eyebrows frown in concentration, bottom lip slightly caught between his teeth, and Lance would feel it. That unfamiliar feeling. 

“Yeah, everything has changed so much. _We_ have changed so much.”

Keith turned around, his eyes leaving the blackboard ahead to stare at Lance, his face still resting on his right hand. They stared at each other in silence for a while, they didn’t need words, not anymore. Lance thought about past Keith and Lance, sitting there –because someone had made the awful wrong choice of assigning Lance’s seat to be at Keith’s left–, unable to keep their mouths shut, unable to stop arguing and competing for absolutely _everything_. And now there they were, years after, looking at each other with something else that wasn’t hatred, rivalry. And Lance finally understood.

“I mean, I’m like, the future, right?” Keith ended up saying, his lips curving into a smirk once more as Lance felt the heat rise to his face.

“S-Shut up, Mullet.” Lance stuttered, turning away from Keith’s stupidly cute face, getting up from his old seat. “Wasn’t Shiro looking for us? We should–.”

He heard Keith’s seat being dragged backwards too, signalizing he had gotten up, and then Keith ruffling his head. “You’re like, my future too, Lance.”

Lance heart skipped a beat, drowning, sinking, in the way Keith’s voice had sounded honest and sweet, like honey dripping from his words. His touch sending every part of Lance ablaze, making him ache for more.

Keith gave him a small smile and took his hand. “Come on, Shiro’s waiting for us.”


	2. Red and blue, training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There, next to the blue and red lions that started it all off. There, in the Garrison, where fate set them together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? getting behind this whole challenge only on the second day? yep, that's me. omg this is going to be a wild trip.

Going back to Earth meant changes again, Keith was used to seeing everything constantly change in his life. He was used to leaving people behind, to abandon old places and old habits to grow accustomed to new ones. He didn’t hate change, he never thought too much of it, it was, after all, what his life was made of.

But things had changed _so_ much.

He wasn’t really sure what home felt like, he hadn’t had that since he was five and his dad died, her mom out of the picture even sooner; but it felt as if space was a close call. Space, Voltron, the Blade of Marmora. Everyone on team Voltron, his new-found mom and Kosmo. And Lance.

Going back to the Galaxy Garrison now, after years in outer space that had given him so much personal growth, that had given him a family and a home, felt like a _bad_ change, one he was terrified of. It brought up old fears, a suffocating terror of being left behind once more, of being replaced and forgotten.

That fear had slapped him on the face, hard, leaving him gasping for air, the moment he stepped in the training deck of the Garrison and found Lance and Kinkade training together. He felt his heart ache inside of his chest seeing the way Lance laughed next to that MFE pilot, that one that was always so quiet, but that Lance had surely managed to get under his skin to get him to laugh with him –because Lance was that charming, that dazzling bright. For a few moments, Keith just stood by the door, watching them, how Lance challenged him, teased him, and it tasted bitter on Keith’s mouth, like betrayal, like someone stealing away Lance and their bittersweet dynamics, their push and pull.

“Oh! Hi, Keith! Didn’t see you there, man.” Lance greeted him, when he turned around, after one more laugh next to Kinkade, and he spotted him by the door. “I was just about to practice my close-combat skills, I wanna learn how to use the sword mode of my bayard better. Do you… wanna train together?”

Lance slightly blushed, looking at his feet shyly, voice getting smaller at the invitation to train together. Keith smiled, ready to accept, feeling a new flash of hope wash through him, warm and nice.

“I thought you asked _me_ to train.” Kinkade interrupted, before Keith could say anything else.

Keith stared at Kinkade, who stared right back at him, a determined and defiant glare. Keith felt his blood boil with anger, he had only been in the Garrison for a few weeks and he already had people he wanted to punch in the face.

“Well, he asked _me_ now.” Keith spat back, without giving himself much space for second-thinking his words.

It’s not as if Keith hadn’t always been hot-tempered and impulsive, he was quick to jump when being provoked, yet this was different. It felt way more personal, like a real offense to think Kinkade was better than him and deserved to enjoy Lance’s presence more than he did. Deep down, he knew he was just being irrationally possessive, fueled by the fear of being left behind, of losing Lance and a relationship that had taken so long to build, a mutual trust and fondness that had been hard to get to. It was all so dumb, he was well-aware of it, but he wouldn’t step back and let Kinkade get away with it. 

Then, just when Keith was sure Kinkade would spit back some stupid comment, Lance stepped in between, hands up in the air, asking for a truce.

“How about this? You guys fight against each other, and I’ll train with whoever wins.” Lance proposed, then, hand on his chin, added; “I mean, I deserve only the best of the best of teachers to learn how to use my cool-ass sword.”

The invitation was there, loud and clear, and _stupid_. He didn’t need to prove his worth, and Lance wasn’t some princess he needed to fight for, but, upon giving Lance a glance, he saw his smirk. Challenging and reassuring. It felt as if he was proving him and giving him space to fight that MFE pilot at the same time.

Keith smirked too then. “Fine with me.”

“Okay.” Kinkade agreed too.

Keith gave one last look at Lance, sure of how he was definitely enjoying all of this way too much, before focusing on the guy standing in front of him, ready to kick his stupid ass.

As it was, turns out Kinkade wasn’t half bad at close-range combat, even if he too was a snipper just as Lance. Still, he lacked ability that the Blade of Marmora, upon hard training that gave absolutely no room for complains nor weakness, made sure Keith didn’t have. He had learnt to anticipate blows and movements, to be fast and to mask his intentions towards his rival. Kinkade seemed to notice that, even if they were pretty even at the beginning of the combat, Keith wouldn’t lose to some stupid smart-ass MFE pilot. Admittedly, Keith didn’t see it coming, didn’t think Kinkade would play dirty, but he should’ve known considering he was friends with James. The MFE pilot tripped him, sending his blade to almost stab him in the guts when losing balance send it flying in the air and he fell down to the floor, hard, the cold tiles of the training deck against his back.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Keith shouted at him, after recovering from the shock of avoiding being stabbed by mere seconds, angry frown already deep in his forehead.

Kinkade shrugged, like a soccer player that played dumb after committing a foul, and Keith quickly got up, ready to wipe that smug look off his face.

“Are you really that useless you need to play dirty? Should’ve seen it coming from one of James’ friends.”

This time, Kinkade did seem annoyed, he stepped closer and Keith was ready to end up in Iverson’s office if it meant giving that idiot what he deserved, just as he had done with James years and years ago. Yet Lance stepped in once more, placing a hand in both their chests to set a distance between them.

“Come on, let’s get along, we’ll need to if we want to defeat the galra together and–.”

Keith didn’t stay to hear the rest, he seethed and stormed out of the room. He wasn’t going to stay for one of Lance’s peep talks when Kinkade was nowhere near of being worthy of standing up for. They may need to work together, but that didn’t mean Keith would pretend being friends with people like Kinkade or James.

He stormed out of the Garrison, desperate for some fresh air to calm down and, without really thinking about it, he ended up where the lions were. He looked up at the blue and red lion, reminiscing old times, when everything was much easier, when Lance was there to only tease _him_ and practice and compete with _him_. Those were good times.

“You really do have a bad temper, you know that?” He heard Lance voice, teasing but still mixed with something that sounded like worry, and he turned around.

Lance stood there with a smirk, hands in his pockets, staring right at him.

He turned away, his gaze going back to the lions. “He was the one who was an asshole playing dirty.”

Lance laugh came from behind him, amused, and so cute, like a light breeze in the middle of summer. And then; “Are you jealous?”

At that moment, Keith was eternally thankful of not facing Lance, because he could feel the heat that had risen on his cheeks. Was he jealous, was that what this all was about? It probably was. His fear of losing Lance making him act all irrational and hot tempered. 

“I’m–.” He tried to deny it, to come up with something that didn’t make him look stupid, but he couldn’t really think of anything. He _was_ jealous, and embarrassed.

Lance laughed once more behind him and then, suddenly, he was wrapping his arms around Keith, his breath tickling Keith’s neck, sending goosebumps all over his body.

“You don’t have to be, idiot. I already told you, I like you, and coming back’s not gonna change that.”

Keith closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy the moment. He thought back to that conversation they had on their way back to Earth, at night, sitting on top of the red lion as they watched the sky blend into shades of blue and purple. Calming and welcoming. Feeling like home, even if they were in the middle of nowhere. There, sitting close, their hands slightly brushing, they had come clean about their feelings. Nothing really came out of that, it was more of admitting and confessing hidden feelings, a love that had been burning from inside out for so long, the fear of something actually happening between the both of them stopping them. Yet now, Keith found himself wishing something had happened.

“Do you…” He felt his cheeks burn even more, as he gathered the strength to actually ask, his hands on top of the arms that surrounded him, holding Lance in place, unsure but determined. “do you want to… go out with me?”

He looked away, feeling his face on fire, even if he was already facing away from Lance. His face landed on the red lion, wondering if his face would be resembling its color at that moment. He felt Lance’s arms around him tense for a second, enough to make him regret asking, but, before he could retreat, Lance spoke again. 

“I thought you’d never ask.”

They didn’t say anything else, as Lance turned him around and finally kissed him. There, next to the blue and red lions that started it all off. There, in the Garrison, where fate set them together. And Keith felt relieved, it felt _right_. It was a change Keith could sure love.


	3. Bonding moment, secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No, I mean, I really missed you. I missed having you there to compete with you about literally everything, I missed your stupid mullet and… and I missed you. I even missed the bonding moment.”   
> “Wait. So you do remember the bonding moment?”  
> “Really, Keith? I just poured my heart out for you, and that’s the thing you decide to pay attention to?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing is being kind of hard lately ;-; sorry, i'll try to get back on track as soon as i can   
> thanks for all the kudos!!

It all happened so quick, Lance didn’t even have time to fully understand how it happened. It was supposed to be an easy mission –at least, as easy as freeing a planet from the occupation of the Galra Empire could be– yet, seeing how he had just crash landed on the surface of said planet, after receiving a particular hard blow, he wasn’t seeing this as clear as before. He vaguely heard the voices of his teammates through the intercoms, both asking him if he was okay and reproaching him not paying enough attention to what he was doing. He laid his head back, resting it on the headrest, and closing his eyes for a second, trying to clear his head off. He knew he needed to focus on the mission, it was his main priority right now, but it was hard doing so when his mind was in so many places at a time. 

Everything had changed so much since Keith left. He hated admitting it, but since he left for the Blade of Marmora, it all felt lonelier. He was left to feel small and unimportant, a replaceable piece in the Voltron team. There, necessary to form Voltron, but just _there_ most of the time.

He opened his eyes again, and pulled at the stick on his control panel, only to find it wasn’t working. He groaned, sure of how he had definitely fucked up the mission because he couldn’t stop thinking about a certain mullet guy, and, just when he thought things couldn’t go worse, he saw a galra ship approaching him. Great, just great. He couldn’t even see the rest of the team anywhere near his position, so he was pretty much alone there.

“Come on, Red, beautiful, pretty lion.” He said, insisting and desperately pressing every button on his control panel he could see, nervously eyeing the spaceship approaching him. “Quiznak.”

The galra ship begun blasting shots at him, shaking the whole lion. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Lance was trying to regain control on his lion, yet with every laser shot it received it reduced the possibilities of anything working.

“Guys, I could—.” He tried to ask for help from his teammates, seeing as anything else wasn’t working. “use some help here.”

A response never came, and Lance wondered if his intercoms weren’t working either. He anxiously bit his lower lip, seeing the spaceship coming even closer and without any plan in mind. 

And then, just when everything seemed lost, a different spaceship appeared, shooting down the galra one. Lance looked at the new spaceship surprised and so relieved, and, when he recognized it to be one of the Blade’s, he felt his heart skip a beat. He told himself that he was just wishful thinking, that there was no way Keith was there. Why would he? He probably had more important galra-ly matters to attend. Still, when the Blade spaceship landed near the Red Lion and a masked Blade came out, approaching him, he couldn’t help but to hope it really was Keith, and not some random dude.

The lion, upon seeing the newcomer approach him, touching its jaw, opened up. That, only did but fuel Lance’s suspicions and _hope_. He felt his heart tighten on his chest, beating fast.

“I see that you still pretty much suck at piloting, huh?” Keith’s voice came from behind him, teasing but friendly, slightly muffled from the Blade of Marmora mask. “I was actually expecting coming back to find some improvement.”

And Lance didn’t know what it was, maybe the loneliness, the missing Keith, all those rough months finally taking its toll on him, but he broke down in tears. Maybe he had hit his head on the way down to the planet, maybe he now had a concussion that was making him act all soft and stupid.

Keith looked taken aback, as he hesitantly approached him, making his mask fade and revealing a face full of worry.

“Hey, I—I’m sorry, I—,” Keith stammered, looking conflicted. He kneeled down in front of Lance, taking his hands in his, looking at him, concerned and with such a determined look in his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that, you have improved and— Are you okay?”

Lance briefly shook his head, hesitantly looking back at Keith. He was really there, and Lance wanted to memorize every little detail. He wanted to stay there, and lose himself in those lilac eyes, deep, piercing, that shone so bright it was hard to breathe, even more when they looked at him so intensely. 

“I… I missed you.” He ended up saying, his voice slightly quivering, giving Keith a quick glance, enough to see the surprise in his face, before embarrassingly looking away.

Maybe he did have a concussion, because he would’ve never imagined himself being so honest with Keith, when all they ever did was compete against each other and bicker. He had missed him, so much it was almost stupid even, but he never really planned on telling him. Was seeing Keith again such a trigger to have him speak all the truth the moment he opened his mouth?

“This is stupid, sorry, I guess I just ruined the whole ‘rivals’ thing.” Lance laughed it off, still without having the guts to look at Keith in the eye, who just stayed quiet, not letting go of Lance’s shaky hands.

“I missed you too, Lance.” Keith answered, yet it didn’t seem to hold the same emotion as when Lance said it, it almost seemed like being pushed to say it back.

Lance shook his head once more, feeling the lump in his throat, the nervousness that made his hands shake.

“No, I mean, I _really_ missed you.” Lance insisted, biting his lower lip, searching for the right words to say. He looked back at Keith, who was looking at him with anticipation. “I’m ruining the whole ‘rivals’ stuff by saying all of this; but I missed you. I missed having you there to compete with you about literally everything, I missed your stupid mullet and… and I missed you. I even missed the bonding moment.”

Keith looked at him with shook written all over his face, a slight blush on his cheeks, he looked as if, when landing on that planet, that was the least he was expecting. It almost seemed as if he was having trouble processing that his self-proclaimed rival had been missing him like crazy these past months he had been away. And then, his soft expression changed to something different.

“Wait. So you do remember the bonding moment?” Keith accused, his voice getting louder.

Lance blinked a few times, bit his lower lip once more and then broke down laughing.

“Really, Keith? I just poured my heart out for you, and that’s the thing you decide to pay attention to?” He faked being wounded, hand on his chest. “But yeah I… I actually remember how you cradled me in your arms.”

“You little liar, you kept saying it didn’t happen.”

Keith got up from the ground, coming closer to Lance and, when Lance less expected it, Keith tickled his sides, making him laugh once more. Lance laughed, begging Keith to stop, who just deemed that as the proper punishment for lying to him.

“But, I missed you too, Lance, _really_ missed you.”

Keith looked at him deep in the eyes, as to ensure his words, and Lance felt as if he was floating underneath it all. Slowly, as if tiptoeing through a new situation, Keith rested his hand on Lance cheek, caressing it. Lance couldn’t wait any longer, as he ended the distance between their mouths and finally kissed Keith. 


	4. Scars, monsters and mana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wish I had been there. I wish I could’ve protected you, or taken care of you. I wish I could’ve been there to cradle you in my arms, make sure to tell you how everything was going to be alright and be right by your side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its definitely being hard staying up-to-date with this challenge fml

Lance stepped in Keith’s room, excitement rushing through him. He loved games, and having a big family with kids always running around meant he got to frequently be able to enjoy all sorts of games; yet all of them were put to shame when it came to Monsters and Mana. Lance loved that game, since Coran showed it to them, he always tried to drag them all to play it in their free time, when the galra and the Voltron Coalition let them breathe for a few bargas. Still, when they all discovered the game, Keith hadn’t been there, instead, he was with the Blade of Marmora. He felt bad for Keith, he was missing on something really cool, so he convinced them all to leave all the Garrison missions and have a day to relax and play Monsters and Mana.

“ _If we’re playing Monsters and Mana, we’re gonna be doing anything but relaxing_.” Pidge had complained, earning a few nods from the rest of their friends, yet they all still agreed to have that Garrison-free day. Even if Pidge was sort of right, as they all ended up getting too competitive and into the game, they couldn’t deny the game was fun to play.

“Keith, baby! We’re playing a super cool alien board game and—!” He stopped, mid-sentence, the moment he spotted Keith.

He was standing next to his bed, that old t-shirt he used as pajamas disposed on his bed, as he was in the middle of putting on his usual black t-shirt. However, something caught Lance’s attention, something more besides how ripped and fucking hot his boyfriend was –the huge scar across Keith’s chest.

“Oh, hi, Lance.” Keith smiled at him, as if everything was completely normal, just before his expression dropped when he saw Lance looking at him, at his chest. “Is everything okay?”

He finished putting on his shirt and came closer to Lance, who’s stomach felt uneasy after what he had just seen. That scar was big, it completely went through all of Keith’s chest, and Lance wondered how the hell did he get that. He didn’t remember them getting in a fight so bad Keith ended up with a wound like that.

“How did you get that scar?” Lance answered, going straight to the point.

He rested his hands softly on Keith’s chest, almost as if he was afraid of hurting him, even if the wound had already healed. Keith looked at him for a moment, before looking away.

“It’s nothing, I got it a while ago when I was with the Blade.” He brushed it off, going back to his bed to put on his usual red jacket on.

Lance and Keith had gotten together not so long ago, it had taken so much of them to put all the rivalry and bickering aside and actually be honest about how they felt about each other. Lance was scared, he had never felt this way about a guy before, but he was determined to try, for Keith. Keith meant so much, was too amazing, to simply let go because of his fears and insecurities. Sure, some people might not accept two guys being together, but as long as he was happy next to Keith, the rest didn’t really matter. Their relationship, so far, had been going on for about a month, so it was fair that there were still things they didn’t know about each other. Lance was all in for taking things slow, learning all the different things there were to know about Keith, from what he liked to eat for breakfast, to deep conversations about their past, their childhood, their fears.

He stepped closer to Keith once more. “It sure doesn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me, Keith.”

Keith sighed, ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the bed. Lance sat next to him, without taking his eyes off him.

“It happened when I had just joined the Blade, maybe two months in, or something like that.” He begun, still not meting Lance’s eyes. “Kolivan told me it was a difficult mission, that maybe it’d be best if I sat back and let other more experienced blades handle it but, you know how I am.”

“So stubborn sometimes I just feel like punching you for how impossibly reckless you are?” Lance provided.

Keith let out a soft laugh.

“Yeah, that.” Lance gave him a stern look, remembering all the times Keith had worried him sick because of his temerarious ways, and Keith simply continued with his story. “Anyway, I went on the mission with another blade, more experienced and calm that me, I gotta say. I don’t really remember how it happened, but I fucked up somehow and we got spotted by the galra.

There were too many for just two of us to take them, we weren’t supposed to go in for a confrontation, we just needed to sneak on their database. Long story short, I ended up surrounded by galra soldiers, I couldn’t retreat, and the commander in charge of that army caught me off guard. And, his sword hit me all across my chest.”

Lance saw Keith play with his hands on his lap, his brow furrowed, as if he was in pain just by remembering, and Lance felt sick imagining how fucked up the situation must’ve been. It was hard to fight off a whole galra army with all of team Voltron sometimes, being all alone to face that sent shivers down Lance’s back just by imagining it.

“There was so much blood, I thought I was going to die there, but the other blade managed to get me back to our base in time.” Keith looked as if he was close to crying, biting on his lower lip. “I was… scared. I thought that was the end, and suddenly I felt so scared, and sad, to think I’d die alone, without no one who really cared about me. I was going to die alone. Without my dad, without my mom, not being able to see all of you guys again. Not being able to see _you_ again.”

Lance saw a tear silently fall down Keith’s cheek, and he felt his heart sunk. He grabbed Keith’s hand, sitting closer, and with his free hand forced Keith to look at him.

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you to die alone.” Lance assured him.

Keith’s deep violet eyes looked at him with fear and sadness still fresh and lingering on them, a sea of emotions hard to swallow. Lance knew that, right there, Keith had let his walls down for Lance to see. He was letting him in into all of his fear and doubts, into his darker side.

“I wish I had been there.” Lance broke the silence they had fallen into. “I wish I could’ve protected you, or taken care of you. I wish I could’ve been there to cradle you in my arms, make sure to tell you how everything was going to be alright and be right by your side.” 

Lance caressed Keith’s cheek, wiping away tears with his thumb, as his boyfriend melted to the touch.

“I love you.” Keith whispered, all of his emotions and thoughts summed up in those three words.

“I love you too, _samurai_.”

Lance softly pressed his lips on Keith’s, a slow kiss, wanting to make sure Keith knew he was there, and that he wasn’t leaving anytime soon, that he accepted him with all of his scars and fears. He’d stay right by his side, fight next to him and protect him at all costs.

“So, what’s that ‘super cool alien board game’ you were talking about?” Keith asked, after they broke apart, as Lance mindlessly played with the fingers of his hand.

Lance eyes immediately lighted it up. “Oh, my god, babe, you’re gonna love it!”

Keith smiled, enjoying seeing Lance’s bubbly personality back, as he begun explaining what the game was about. He hated seeing those beautiful blue eyes looking at him with sadness, or worry, those eyes were meant to shine, so bright, like a summer sky. He was so glad he made it out alive, so _so_ glad he was able to see Lance again and be by his side. 


	5. Red lion, hidden talent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lance couldn’t stop looking at the small tattoos marked across Keith’s pale skin, admiring all the details, the artwork, and thinking about how Keith had done all of that himself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this prompt has been kind of hell for me to write, i'm so bad with the whole 'hidden talent' thing, so this might be kinda shitty but i'll compensate it with double update (maybe, luckly, triple)

It had been so long since Lance had had time to go to the Castle of Lion's swimming pool, with the war taking most of his time and, when that wasn't the case and he finally had some spare time, he was too tired to do anything that consisted on physical activity. Most of the time, he just settled on laying on his bed playing games or hanging out with Hunk and Pidge.

Now, however, after so much time in space fighting against the galra, with so many new people hanging around the castle –Keith being back, Romelle and Krolia, apart from the rest of the team–, he desperately needed the distraction and to get away from them all for a while.

He was on his way to the pool as suddenly, as if the past was coming back to mock him, Keith entered the elevator just in time before the doors closed. They looked at each other.

"If the elevator gets stuck again, I'm kicking your cursed ass." Lance warned, teasingly, as if Keith had any actual say on the matter.

Keith smirked at him, the same teasing look dancing in his eyes.

"Don't jinx it."

Thankfully, the elevator didn't get stuck, and they made it to the pool just fine.

Lance sneaked a glance of Keith, he was, once more, only wearing his swimsuit and a towel over his head. However, there was something different this time. When they had gone to the pool in the past, their relationship had been so bad, Lance had tried with all his being to just ignore him, pretend Keith wasn't there ruining _his_ pool time. But now, after all that had happened, he couldn't take his eyes off Keith. Maybe, as hard to admit as it was, he had ended up falling for that guy. He had fallen in love with his rival, for how he was always there for him, for how he wasn’t as bad as Lance thought he was.

And now, as he cautiously looked at him, afraid of getting caught staring, he was suddenly painfully aware of how much flesh was exposed. Lance’s eyes trailed across all of his body, built up from all the fighting, making Lance wonder just how strict the Blade of Marmora was, imagining all the hard training and the tough missions Keith had surely had to endure while he was there, separated from the rest of team Voltron. Lance’s eyes went all across his body, taking in his muscles, his tattoos… Wait, Keith had tattoos? How had Lance never noticed those before?

"You have tattoos!?" He exclaimed, without really thinking, approaching Keith to get a better look at them.

He had a few ones across his chest, and one that was half-hidden by his swimsuit, making Lance wonder just how far it went, how the full tattoo was. They were kind of small, black ink standing out on porcelain skin, like constellations on a beautiful canvas.

Keith looked at him sort of surprised and looked down on his tattoos.

"Oh, those? Yeah, I learnt how to do stick-n-poke tattoos a while ago, so I got myself a couple of tats." He answered, matter-of-factly, as if it was nothing big.

But Lance couldn’t stop looking at the small tattoos marked across Keith’s pale skin, admiring all the details, the artwork, and thinking about how Keith had done all of that himself. Unconsciously, he traced one on Keith’s chest with the tip of his fingers. Keith tensed for a second, surprised, but didn’t stop Lance. Lance’s fingertips moving across his skin, softly, slowly, rising goosebumps. He stopped, looking at Keith, who was staring back at him, something in his eyes Lance couldn’t quite pin down. 

“You know, if you want, when we go back to Earth, and I have my stuff, I can give you a tattoo.” Keith suggested, voice low and soft.

Lance smiled at him. He imagined Keith imprinting art into his body, just the two of them, as if he was Keith’s unique masterpiece. He had considered getting a few tattoos when he turned eighteen, even if his mom wouldn’t be so happy about it, and having Keith do them just made him want them more.

“Yeah, it’d be nice.”


	6. Holding hands, heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By the time Keith finished talking, Lance was crying. He couldn’t help the sob escaping his lips, as his heart ached as it hadn’t ached before. It was an unknown pain, new, and something he never imagined he’d feel because of Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm bringing the angstttt (with happy ending, dw)  
> i love how when it's angst it's super easy for me to write and i get it done quickly hahaha

“I can’t keep doing this, Lance. This is a war, there’s no time for stupid teenager-y relationships. We’re not in high school, I’m not gonna take you to prom and slow dance with you. We need to focus on the galra more, and clearly, this,” Keith motioned to the both of them, scowl on his face. “this isn’t working. You take so much of me.”

By the time Keith finished talking, Lance was crying. He couldn’t help the sob escaping his lips, as his heart ached as it hadn’t ached before. It was an unknown pain, new, and something he never imagined he’d feel because of Keith. Maybe Lance had been too naïve, too hopeful to think Keith and him belonged together that, despite their many differences, they were meant to be. He thought they worked, that they made a good team, that the love they had was enough –but it wasn’t. It was too much. Lance had overflowed, as always, pouring too much of him, being so much that people just run away.

“So, what, you want us to break up?” Lance asked, his voice trembling and weak, only a tiny voice.

He imagined Keith would falter, reconsider or at least doubt; but he should’ve known that when Keith set his mind on something he was determined to follow through with that idea.

“Yes.”

Another sob shook his body, his knees almost giving up on him. Suddenly, the walls of his bedroom felt like they were about to fall on him, caging him in. They had had such good times in that room, sleeping next to each other, deep conversations at night, playing video games together while being their usual competitive selves. Now it was all fading, choking him.

“Keith, please—.”

“I’m sorry, Lance.”

He didn’t say anything else, as Lance simply watched him give him his back and leave the room. Solemn, as if nothing ever meant anything to him, as if he wasn’t feeling the excruciating pain ripping his heart out.

Lance sat on his bed, now that Keith was gone, he stopped containing his crying. He sobbed, letting it all out, he cried until he felt his whole face sore and puffy, until he physically couldn’t cry anymore. He felt so lonely, he felt as if someone had taken away a part of him, holding it away from him. It felt hard to breathe.

He had given so much of himself to Keith, he loved him so much, he was the most serious he had been with anyone else before. But nothing mattered any longer, Keith was gone, and it felt like he had left with half of Lance’s being. It felt as if he had lost his home once more. Keith was always there for him, he took his mind off his family when the thought of not being able to see them became too much; he was there to be his new home, warm and loving. But now it all ended, and Lance was left but to watch said home crumble to its foundations.

—

The following weeks were hard. So damn hard. It wasn’t as it was back in the Galaxy Garrison, they didn’t get the chance to have different classes, or hang out at different places; there was only so much you could do to avoid someone when living in a flying castle in the middle of space, it was inevitable to unexpectedly bump into each other. And every time that happened, Lance couldn’t even muster up the courage to look at Keith in the face, he felt that, if he did so, he would just fall to pieces once more. It was hard to have him there, so close, yet so untouchable. He wanted to hold his hand, to snuggle together in bed, to play videogames and watch weird alien movies with him. He wanted to have Keith back.

“Lance, are you listening?” Allura asked him, stopping her speech about their next mission –something about going to a potentially-ally planet, he’d ask Hunk later for more details–, to look at him with a mixture of worry and anger.

Lance snapped out of it, he had been too distracted looking at Keith, at how good he looked every time he put his hair up in a ponytail, just how it was at that moment. Reminiscing old times, when they were together and happy. When he still wasn’t too much for Keith.

“Oh? Yeah… Yeah, I’m listening…”

Allura, as well as the others, didn’t look too convinced, yet she at least pretended to believe him, giving him a quick nod. He hung his head down, looking at the floor of the bridge, not wanting to face their worried looks –it was clear that, by now, they all knew what had happened with Keith and Lance. Hunk, as well as Pidge, had been there for Lance, making sure he was okay, that he didn’t skip meals and he didn’t spend all his days crying in his room. They, definitely, were the best friends Lance could’ve asked for.

The mission ended up being a diplomatic one, where they just had to be there and hang out with the citizens of the host planet. Apparently, they had even planned different events the paladins of Voltron could attend to, yet, seeing how they had provided them rooms to spend the night, Lance was just waiting for the right moment to sneak into his room and just try to sleep to keep his mind off Keith. Of Keith and how much he missed him every waken moment. Of Keith and how happy and good and not-heartbroken he looked. Of Keith and his stupid mullet, and his deep violet eyes and his cute smile.

Lance sighed.

“I’m going to my room. If you need me, I don’t know, call me or something.” He told Hunk, who was standing next to him, voice dull, yet he couldn’t find the strength to even put up a fake-happy front.

Hunk grimaced, yet he still nodded and sent him off with a quick hug, asking him to call him if Lance needed anything.

Lance closed his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow, enjoying just how nice that bed felt under him. He didn’t know which materials they used to make it, or if he was just exhausted, but it felt like one of the comfiest beds he had ever laid on. Maybe he was truly very tired, since he couldn’t even remember the moment he fell asleep. He only took notice on it, when a few knocks on his door woke him up. His first thought, inevitably and stupidly enough, was that it was Keith, as he had been hoping for the past weeks. It was silly, but part of him still hoped his ex-boyfriend would come to him to beg him to have him back. It wouldn’t happen, though. Lance, deep down, knew that that was just how things were meant to be. They just weren’t meant to be together, he supposed.

It was Hunk.

“Hey, man, how are you doing?” He greeted him, with that ever-present worry in his eyes. It made Lance sort of uneasy, he was worrying his best friend too much these days, he didn’t deserve to deal with that burden. He had no reason to have to put up with Lance’s sorry ass.

“Good, I guess.” Lance answered.

“Good, good.” Hunk replied, a bit awkwardly. “Look, there’s this dance thing and Allura says it’s important for us all to attend so…”

Lance sighed, tiredly. A stupid dance, full of couples dancing together, was the least of places he wanted to be at. Still, if it was Voltron business, he had no other choice but to go.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Hunk smiled at him. “Cool, there are different outfits on your closet, just pick whatever.”

Lance rose an eyebrow.

“Hunk, my dear friend, I might be heartbroken, but I still haven’t given up on fashion. This is not a ‘whatever’ choice, it never is when it comes to cool outfits.”

Hunk chuckled, he looked even relieved to see Lance joke around and up for planning outfits.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He humored him. “I’ll go get ready too. See you at the party, I’ll wait for you in the entrance hall?”

Lance nodded, before seeing Hunk go, disappearing down the hallway. After closing the door to his guest bedroom, he turned towards the closet, to pick a nice outfit. 

—

As he approached the dancehall, he could already faintly hear music playing. He couldn't, however, see any signs of Hunk or any of his teammates. But, as he got closer, what he did see was that there was someone standing by the door, dressed up in a black suit, leaning on the wall. From a distance, they looked so much like Keith, they even had the same mullet. Yet, when he was close enough to recognize the facial features better, he was met with the horrible realization that it was, indeed, Keith. There were no signs of anyone else of their friends, and, upon noticing that, Lance was ready to spin on his heel and leave. Maybe he could come later when he had given the rest of the team enough time to show up, he wasn’t up for waiting for them in an awkward silence with Keith. He was held back from doing so, though, seeing as Keith surprised him by grabbing his hand before he could flee.

"What are you doing?" Lance snapped, trying to get his hand free, but Keith grabbed it tighter. "Is this some kind of scheme to mock me? 'Oh, look it's your stupid teenager-y prom dance, let's slow dance together until you become too annoying for me to handle'."

Keith looked physically pained upon hearing those words, and maybe Lance, in the full heat of his anger, took pride on it.

"Stop, this isn't what this all is about, Lance."

Lance scoffed a humorless laugh.

"Then what do you want of me?" He spat, he didn't feel like dancing around the matter, he just wanted this all to be done with because, if he stayed there any longer, with Keith looking at him, talking to him and holding his hand like that, maybe Lance would break up in tears once more.

"I want _you_." He stated, blunt as he knew Keith to be.

Lance looked at him with surprise, taken aback, because from all the things he had imagined this could've been about, Keith saying those words was the least he was expecting. So he let out a confused 'what', making Keith step closer, grabbing both of Lance's hands in his, and Lance was sure they were shaking.

"I want you. I want to attend this stupid teenager-y dance with you, because, if it's with you, I know it won't be stupid." Keith said, looking at him in the eyes, serious but with a fondness Lance had missed so much. "You're not annoying, you're not too much. You're _so_ much. And I was stupid to push you away, I should've seen that you don't make me weak; you make me stronger. It is without you that I am weak."

Lance was crying. It was, however, for a whole new reason now. Keith was there, saying all those words Lance had dreamt of hearing these past weeks and so much more, and Lance felt so relieved and happy.

Keith smiled at him, letting go of his hands to sweetly wipe away his tears.

"God, I hate seeing you cry, even more when it's my fault." He muttered.

Lance shook his head, not giving it importance.

"I love you. Slow dance with me?"

Keith smiled at him, and Lance saw how he physically relaxed, as if he had been nervous of Lance’s reaction and answer to all of that. He grabbed Lance’s hands once more, leaving a kiss on both of them.

"I love you too, Lance. So much. You're my whole world, I swear."

"Damn, our break up made you so cheesy." Lance teased, seeing the blush creep up Keith's neck, making him chuckle.

"Shut up and dance with me." He simply said.

Keith held Lance's hand and dragged him inside of the dancehall. Maybe this all only did but prove just how much they needed each other, how strong they grew out to be next to each other. And how much they loved each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't think i'll be able to post today's prompt and finally get up-to-date, because it's pretty late already, but let's pray and hope i manage to write today's prompt just in time  
> thanks for the kudos!!


	7. Long distance, new outfits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But, with Lance not answering any of his text messages all day, a bad feeling started settling in the bottom of his stomach. He tried to ignore it, think rationally like he always did, but, when it came to Lance, Keith knew he always had trouble not letting his heart get in the way.

It had been years since Voltron defeated the galra, since they fought their last battle, giving it all for a mayor cause. Still, it wasn’t all dealt with, there were still planets occupied by the galra empire that need to be freed and so much to build back up.

And that was exactly what set Lance and Keith apart.

Lance wanted to stay on Earth to help its citizens, the Galaxy Garrison, to reconstruct it all, help them all heal from the damage the galra had done. Keith knew Lance would want to stay, he had missed his family so much, he had everything there on Earth. Lance belonged on Earth. Keith, not so much. Earth had only taken things from him, thrown him into a life full of loneliness and pain, it was, in space, where he had truly found himself. He liked it there, he felt free and like he finally belonged somewhere.

This whole situation had caused arguments between them. It had been hard for them to admit their true feelings and get together, especially with all the war going on, and now that they could finally spend the rest of their days next to each other, no one wanted to leave the other behind; but they didn’t want to give in to the other’s wishes. Lance wanted to stay on Earth, Keith wanted to go back to space.

Some days things had gotten _really bad_ , with arguments so heated that it had one of them leaving their shared apartment in a rage, slamming the door and not coming back for the night. Some days their stubbornness had them not talking to the other for days. Yet, at the end, after some of their friends and family talked some sense into them, practically locking them in a room together to force them to talk things out in a mature way, they came to realize they both had their reasons for their plans for the future. Lance loved his family, he was raised in a household that taught the importance and value of family, he was close with them. Keith could, in a way, understand just how hard it could be to go so far away from them. It was not just a flight away from home, it was galaxies away, and Keith had seen how much that destroyed his boyfriend. Yet Keith couldn’t stay there, his body craved to go back, to a place where he felt like he belonged and where he could fix things for the better.

So, their dispute was put to an end with the conclusion that they both needed to find their own path. It was not a break up, they were both sure they could still pull this through. Lance didn’t really believe in long distance relationships, but, for Keith, he was more than willing to try.

Lance ended up becoming a teacher at the Galaxy Garrison, whereas Keith got high up the Blade of Marmora rankings and became a commander. It was good, they facetimed constantly, and they texted all the time. Keith always told Lance about his missions, the progress they were making with the ally planets, how he had seen Allura and Romelle recently and they were also doing great at reconstructing Altea, and how much he missed him. Lance told him about his lectures, the progress on Earth and kept him up-to-date with how everyone was doing. It was all good, even if it wasn’t perfect. 

But then Lance missed on their usual morning facetime. Keith didn’t think much of it, maybe he was busy, maybe he forgot because of all the work –he remembered Lance telling him he had to go over a bunch of essays and exams from the various classes he taught. But, with Lance not answering any of his text messages all day, a bad feeling started settling in the bottom of his stomach. He tried to ignore it, think rationally like he always did, but, when it came to Lance, Keith knew he always had trouble not letting his heart get in the way. He tried to keep his head on the missions he had that day, telling himself that he could facetime Lance at night and ask him if everything was fine. Maybe, by then, Lance would’ve texted back too. When the night came, though, he still had no news about his boyfriend.

Keith sighed, messing with his hair as he plopped down on his bed, back in his quarters. He bit his lower lip. It was all so unusual of Lance, and Keith couldn’t help but imagine all sorts of explanations for his weird behavior, one worse than the other.

What if Lance got tired of him, of the whole long-distance relationship? What if he had already found someone else to replace him? Lance was amazing, he could find somebody else easily. But then. What if something bad had happened? What if the galra was attacking Earth again? What if something had happened to Lance?

_What if._

He groaned. He wouldn’t fix anything like that, drowning in ‘what if’s. Instead, he picked up his phone and dialed Lance, before his fears took the best of him.

He was surprised when the one answering his facetime call wasn’t Lance, but Hunk, his face popping up on the screen with an upset expression badly hidden by one of his smiles.

“Hi, Keith. How’d you doing?” He greeted him, playing dumb but doing a really bad job at it, it was obvious something was going on there.

“Don’t ‘Hi, Keith’ me. What’s going on? Why didn’t Lance answer me?” He quickly accused.

He heard Hunk sigh, and then the sound of footsteps and the click of a door closing.

“Lance is sleeping right now, that’s why he didn’t answer.”

Keith rose an eyebrow, it didn’t look as if Hunk was lying, but it didn’t feel like he was telling all the truth either.

“I’ve been trying to talk to him all day, though.” He stated.

He saw Hunk purse his lips, looking away for a moment, as if hesitating. Then, he turned back to the camera, sighting.

“Look, Lance asked us not to tell you, he didn’t want to worry you.” Hunk told him, worried look now fully settled on his face, and Keith didn’t like how that all sounded.

He knew how his boyfriend was, he could be going right through hell and he wouldn’t tell anyone just to not upset them. But Keith wished Lance trusted him, even more when their relationship was in such a delicate situation, where communication was key.

“Oh, god, what did he do?” Keith asked, already preparing for the worse.

“He’s sick. Like, _pretty_ sick. Don’t worry! He’s not dying or anything!” He added in a rush, Keith guessed his expression might’ve reflected just how concerned he was. “He’s got a pneumonia, I think. He should be fine, I took him to the hospital and everything, he just needs to take his medicine. It’s just… His fever’s been pretty high since this morning and it’s not really going down.” 

Hunk sighed once more, rubbing a hand through his face. He looked worried and exhausted, Keith could imagine he had been taking care of Lance since this all started, and he mentally thanked him for taking good care of his boyfriend. Hunk was really such a good friend.

“I can’t believe this dumbass wouldn’t tell me he was sick.” Keith answered, getting up from his bed. “Since when is he feeling so sick? He seemed fine yesterday when we facetimed, maybe a bit under the weather, but fine, I thought he just got a cold.”

He got a bag from his wardrove, starting to gather stuff and putting it inside.

“He already had a fever yesterday, just not as bad.” Hunk’s answer came from his bed, where he had left his phone to keep quickly packing. “But he didn’t come to work this morning and I got worried, so I went to your apartment to check on him and his fever was alarmingly high. It took me a while to get him up and dressed to take him to the hospital. What are you doing?”

Keith, now having fully packed, grabbed his phone once more. “Packing. I’m coming to see that careless idiot.” 

Hunk looked surprised for a split second, just before his face settled on regret. He looked away once more.

“Oh, man, Lance’s gonna kill me. He didn’t want you to know because of this, he said you’d drop everything and come back as soon as you knew he wasn’t feeling that well.”

“Obviously.” Keith answered, now walking towards the hangers, to get to the first pot he could find and go back to Earth.

“Keith, I don’t think it’s—.”

“Keith? What’s going on?” Lance’s voice came from the background and, after some little arguing between Lance and Hunk, Lance’s face appeared on the screen.

His face was red and his eyes glassy, hair sticking in all directions, pointing that, effectively, he had been sleeping until just then. A cough shook his whole body and he wrapped himself more on the blanket that was covering him. If Keith had any doubt on going back to Earth to check on him and take care of him, they all vanished the moment he saw Lance, in such a sorry state.

“Yep, I’m going back to Earth.” He concluded.

Lance looked surprised, even a bit disoriented. “What?”

“Go back to bed, Lance, I’ll be home in a few hours.” He told him, as sweet as he could manage, worry eating him from inside now that he had seen just how bad Lance looked.

He got inside a pot, ending the call right in time to cut Lance’s protests about the matter.

“What? No, you’re no—.”

—

Just as Keith promised, after telling Kolivan he was going to be gone for a few days and asking him to open a wormhole to Earth for him, he arrived to Earth. He landed at the Garrison, not wasting much time in greetings and explanations, instead, rushing to their shared apartment. When he arrived, Hunk opened the door for him, giving him a welcome hug that Keith was quick to accept; it had been so long since he had last seen him, and he knew he had been talking good care of Lance, just as he promised him when Keith left.

They both walked to Keith and Lance’s bedroom, Hunk filling him in on how Lance’s state had been since they facetimed a few hours ago –not particularly better.

When they got to their bedroom, Keith found Lance lying in bed, breathing heavily. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Lance’s forehead. It was hot.

The touch of Keith’s cold hand, compared to Lance’s temperature, that is, woke him up. He tiredly opened his eyes and confusedly looked at Keith with those glassy blue eyes; he looked even worse in person.

“Keith?” He mumbled, trying to sit up, but Keith forced him to stay as he was.

“I’m here, babe.”

Keith pulled some strands of hair out of Lance’s face, noticing how sweaty he was from the fever.

“What are you—? You shouldn’t’ve come. I’m—.” A cough cut him off. “I’m fine. Hunk can take care of me. I know you have so much work to do at the Blade.”

Keith shook his head, sitting closer to Lance now, getting under the covers with him and pulling him to his chest. He caressed Lance’s hair, knowing how much he liked that.

He shushed him. “You’re not fine, _dumbass_ , I thought we agreed you’d take care of yourself while I was away.”

“I did.” Lance stubbornly argued back, even if his credibility flew out the window the moment he was caught in a coughing fit that had Keith rubbing his back with care.

“Lance, I love you, buddy, but you really need to take better care of yourself.” Hunk intervened, standing by the bedroom door. “I’m already sick of telling you this, but maybe if I tell you with Keith here you’ll finally listen; you need to stop focusing so much on work that you neglect your health.”

Keith shoot him a glare and Lance sheepishly smiled at him.

“Okay, I’m gonna go home now. I’m kind of tired of taking care of your dumb ass and I trust Keith to take well care of you, as well as scold you for being so careless.” 

Lance grumpily said goodbye to him and Keith got up to walk him to the door. Before he left, Hunk told him where the medicine and other important things were.

Keith got back to the bedroom, carrying the thermometer that was in the living room since he wanted to see how Lance’s fever was doing. He slipped back into the bed, giving Lance the thermometer.

“You really didn’t have to come.” Lance argued once more, just before laying back on Keith, putting the thermometer in his mouth.

Keith scoffed.

“Of course I had to. Besides, it’s not as if I need a reason to come see my boyfriend, the Blade is fine without me. And if they’re not, oh well, my pretty earthling is more important. Always. No matter the distance.” He looked at Lance, who looked back at him with surprise in his eyes. “I’m just upset you thought I didn’t need to come, that you didn’t tell me you were sick. I thought we promised to tell each other everything, Lance.”

Lance looked away and Keith could tell he was guilty. The thermometer beeped, and Keith took it to check Lance’s temperature. 39ºC, 102,2ºF. Keith sighed, worried, that wasn’t good.

He got up to go look for the medicine Hunk had told him to give to Lance if his fever was still high.

“I’m sorry.” Lance said, when Keith came back to the room with a glass of water and a pill. “I do trust you. I just didn’t want to worry you and disrupt you on your job. I thought… you know, I’ve got my family –my mom and Rachel might drop by tomorrow, in fact–, and friends and I’m a grown-up adult, I could take care of this myself.”

Keith took the now empty glass from Lance’s hands and left it on the bedside table, grabbing one of Lance’s warm hands, leaving a soft kiss on Lance’s head.

“You’re such a terrible adult.” Keith teased, earning a soft hit from Lance and a pout. “But really, if it’s you, you never disrupt. I’d do anything for you, Lancey.”

Keith could almost swear he saw Lance blush at that, but it could’ve well been the fever. He saw, however, Lance’s big smile, the same one that Keith had missed so much, the one that irradiated a warmth Keith longed for.

“I love you.”

Keith smiled.

“I love you too.” He readjusted on the bed, cuddling Lance more, seeing how he rested his head on Keith’s chest. “Now sleep, I’m gonna stay with you till you get better. Fuck the Blade.”

Lance chuckled, eyes already closed.

“I’m telling Kolivan you said that.” He said, voice barely above a whisper, tired, just before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> voltron is ending in less than a week, are you okay with that? im not.


	8. Roadtrip to Earth, flustered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It completely knocked the air out of Keith's lungs, it left him flustered, mouth agape as those pretty, pretty blue eyes looked right at him, without faltering.

  
Keith couldn't face Lance, and he knew he was fucking things up because of that. He had messed things up again with him ever since he got back to the team, when Lance had come to him with open arms –was he going to hug him?– and he had just pushed him away, telling him he didn't have time for that in the dullest and driest tone he could've managed. He had seen the sadness and disappointment in Lance's eyes for a split second, just before his façade was up again and he was back to teasing. He didn't want to push him away.

The second time he said the wrong thing was when they were unexpectedly sucked in The Feud. He wanted to pick Lance –but not because he was annoying, and not because he didn't want to be stuck there forever with Lance. He did want to spend forever with Lance. And he wanted him to be the one to get out of there, if the choice was to be made, because such a bright star didn't deserve to be trapped, contained, in a small space like that. Lance was bright, and cheerful, and caring; and too great to contain. Keith wanted it to be Lance who made it out of there because he, too, was the future. He deserved to make it out because he had a family waiting for him back on Earth, because he made people happy; because he made Keith happy.

But he didn't say any of that.

He didn't speak up the truth, not even when Lance had said _that_. When Lance had went and called _him_ the future.

Keith couldn't face Lance. And it was stupid, so stupid, it even had his mom trying to talk to him, get him to stop acting like an idiot because 'That earthling boy loves you, you know? Your dad used to look at me the same way'. But Keith had been waiting for so long for that, for Lance to truly see _him_ , not just the perfect version of him that the Galaxy Garrison sold of him, not as his rival; he wanted Lance too see Keith, for all he was. And now he seemed to have it, and he couldn't deal with it. Even less, after what happened that year in the Quantum Abyss, after what he _saw_. 'The light triggers visions of the past, _and the future_ '. And, you see, it seems like Keith might really be the future for Lance. Keith didn't know how to deal with that, because his heart beat fast and his palms got sweaty and his face felt like it was on fire whenever Lance even so much as looked his way. Because Lance's voice, teasing but sweet and trusting, did things to Keith. Because that deep blue, looking at him through long lashes, smile ever present, made Keith's legs weak. Because he had fallen, hard, for Lance, and it seems like Lance might've too fallen, if the image of them kissing in some planet he couldn't recognize when he saw it in his vision in the Quantum Abyss meant anything, if the way he smiled at him right after meant anything; if 'I love you' whispered close to his lips, in the darkness that partly shaded Lance's perfect figure, meant anything.

So Keith was pushing Lance away, and avoiding him, and accidentally being a complete asshole in the process too. They were traveling back to Earth, making their way across the galaxy, passing by numerous planets, and Keith was on edge, because what if the next planet they landed on was _the_ planet? What if the vision came true? Was Keith ready for that?

Shiro had told him, numerous times in fact, that he was a chaotic gay, and maybe he was. It was a good reasoning, because he had clumsily tried to flirt with Lance ever since the bomb incident, ever since the Bonding Moment –in capitals, because it had happened, it had been important–, he had wanted Lance to like him back. And now he had that, if all the signs the universe was giving him could be interpreted that way, and he was running away of it because it had him the most nervous he had been in his life.

But you can only run from things so much, Keith had learnt that in the past, the hard way. He had learnt that when he refused to accept that his dad was gone, had learnt that after they caught him the third time he tried to run away from the orphanage they put him in. So now Keith, sitting next to a bonfire with the rest of the team, finally recognizing the planet to be _the_ planet now that the night had fallen and it looked more similar to the one of his vision, couldn't run anymore. And the worse part of it all was that the vision might not come true simply because it had to, because it was written on the stars, but because he saw Lance, tired expression, eyes dimmed of their usual light, getting up and saying he was going for a walk _by himself_. And no one seemed to mind in the slightest.

"Wait, Lance!" He stopped him, getting up too. Kosmo, as the good boy he was, also followed suit. "I'm coming with you."

Lance looked surprised, Keith could even swear he saw him blush, and then nodded.

They ended up walking in silence, with Kosmo running around them and Lance smiling at the space wolf. And then they were sitting down again, in front of a cliff where Keith could see a breathtaking view, one he immediately recognized, but he still tried to calm down his pulse because now Lance was looking at him, and he looked like he wanted to tell Keith something.

"Why did you come out here with me? I thought you didn't want to be stuck with me anywhere?" It should've sounded angry, like it usually did when Lance accused him, but it didn't, if anything, it sounded profusely sad.

Keith bit his lower lip.

"You looked like you needed someone." He said, honestly, looking ahead of him, towards the cliff, too nervous to keep looking at Lance.

Silence and then; " _Oh_."

Keith looked back at Lance, who was tracing shapes on the sandy floor with his fingertips.

"Yeah, I might." He spoke again, now being Lance the one who didn't meet his gaze. "It's been... rough, these past months without you."

Keith opened and closed his mouth, like a fish out of water, not expecting something so honest, so blunt, and not knowing how to respond to that. He never, not when they met, not when they were stuck at the other side of that first wormhole, that he would hear Lance say something like that to him.

"Yeah, I know, it's silly." Lance laughed it off. "We were supposed to be rivals, I had my friends, I had the cool alien princess; but I missed _you_. And you left a void so big in the team that it was... hard to deal with... and I... I... I think I love you, man." 

It completely knocked the air out of Keith's lungs, it left him flustered, mouth agape as those pretty, pretty blue eyes looked right at him, without faltering. He could feel his cheeks burn.

"I-I know it's weird, it's okay if you don't—."

But Keith didn't let him finish, because now the flustered one was Lance, and because he was tired of running away. He kissed him. He kissed him because the Quantum Abyss was right, because the stars were right, and because after so much time running away it finally felt right to stay.

And then they pulled apart, and Lance smiled, and Lance whispered 'I love you' close to his lips, and Keith finally said it back too; and the Quantum Abyss prediction was right there, coming true.


	9. Bayard, promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I love you. I couldn’t bear to see the person I most loved doubt himself, think that he wasn’t worthy enough for Voltron; so, I left. I left to protect the person I most loved, the Lance who was sure of himself, the sharpshooter who’d save the whole universe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i didn't mean to leave this hanging like this but first i was busy and then s8 came to completely destroy me and so i couldn't find it in me to continue this challenge. but i'm back!! because, honestly, fuck voltron, klance will forever be canon kings in our klancer hearts and yeah, fuck lm and jds because klance are soulmates and i'll keep loving them forever  
> that said, please have patience as i try to publish all the prompts because at this point i missed so many but i promise i'll try to finish this challenge

Lance sat on the rooftop of the Galaxy Garrison, it seemed like so long since he had been up there, just staring at the sky melt into the sand of the desert that surrounded the school. It had been so long. So many things had changed, yet it all stayed the same as well. Keith too.

It was on an autumn morning like that, when Keith first left him, when he first run away. He could still picture it, Keith sitting next to him on that same rooftop, their hands brushing but not quite touching. Keith’s cheek was still slightly bruised, a light shade of purple, and his eyes shone with force as he stared at the sunrise fiercely. They weren’t exactly friends, they really weren’t anything you could put a label on, but Keith was there, saying goodbye. Because he felt the need to do so, because Lance maybe meant something to him. And then, slowly, hesitantly, he had promised they’d see each other again.

Lance believed him, even if he felt stupid for it, even if the pain in his stomach was screaming not to do so.

They did see each other again –but Keith didn’t remember him.

“ _The name’s Lance?_ ” Lance provided, eyebrow risen and tone indignant. He forgot him? Really? Lance hadn’t forgotten him, he had been thinking about him all this time, wondering how was he doing, if they’d ever really see each other. But now Keith was looking at him with anything but confusion, so Lance guessed he really forgot all about Lance. “ _We were at the same class at the Garrison? We were like rivals, you know? Keith and Lance, neck and neck._ ” 

“ _Oh, wait, I remember you. You were a cargo pilot_.”

And it hurt. Keith had forgotten him, about their stupid rivalry, about the conversations they’d have, when that same rivalry landed them in detention, that made Lance think about how Keith wasn’t half bad, really. Lance was just one more classmate, one more face in the hallways. And it hurt; so Lance coped with that pain by being mean to Keith. Just like that, they were back to base one, to the bickering and the competitiveness.

Yet, as they trained next to each other in the Castle of Lions, determined to become the defenders of the universe, Lance found it wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t that bad teasing Keith and seeing his reactions, the way his eyes would burn holes into him and the angry curve of his mouth, it was like going back to their old dynamics. It brought hope to Lance, it made him think that maybe they could start over again and make it right this time.

He was wrong.

Keith left again.

And Lance missed him. He longed his presence in the Castle of Lions, because everything felt empty again without him, because he had his friends, an alien princess and a cool mecha-robot but nothing was good enough if Keith wasn’t there. He wasn’t good enough, he was just there, like a seventh wheel for the group. He knew things would be much different if Keith was there. Because Keith was quiet, and temperamental and impulsive, but Lance knew him better than that. Lance had learnt to know him better than that, to take in the small gestures, to notice how much Keith really cared. Keith had made sure to reassure Lance when things just seemed like too much and him not good enough to put up with everything. 

Lance was in love with Keith.

And Keith left again. And this time it took so much more of Lance, because now it was not confusing weird feelings he couldn’t explain, too young to even understand that maybe he had a little crush on the guy. This time he had bonded on a deeper level with Keith and now he was sure that, somewhere along the road, Lance fell for Keith. And he missed him, he missed him, he missed him.

Keith came back again.

“ _I don’t have time for this, Lance!_ ”

And it hurt again.

Lance shut down, he was the quiet one now, trying to make as little noise as he could, thinking that maybe he could melt into the shadows of their group of friends. Maybe he could just stay quiet until they were back on Earth, and then he could hug his mom and eat those garlic knots he loved so much while her mom comforted him. He wouldn’t have to say anything, because his mom would hug him and caress his hair softly and assure him everything was okay now; he was at home now, and nothing could ever harm him under the warm sun of Varadero.

Except he wasn’t. The warm sun, the blue skies and the sea weren’t there. The only thing out there where thousands of stars looking back at him, beautiful and lonely.

“I knew I’d find you here.” He heard Keith’s voice behind him and he turned around, seeing him enter the room, coming closer, with a fond smile.

Lance was watching the thousands of constellations out there, all the way home, in the bridge of the Castle of Lions. Lately, with the arrival of new people to the castle, he strangely felt even lonelier. Maybe it had to do with how there was so much people, yet no one seemed to care for him. Maybe it was how Keith found his mom, and Lance was happy for him, really happy, but it reminded him of his own mom and that kind of sucked. 

Keith sat next to him on the floor, their legs slightly touching. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Lance mumbled, tired, sad.

Keith grimaced and rested a hand on Lance’s shoulder. It was enough to effectively get his full attention and make him look at Keith, who was already staring back, serious look on his face and concern in his eyes.

“You don’t look okay.” Keith stated. “Were… things okay while I was gone?”

Lance looked away. Because how could Keith always so easily sense what exactly was wrong? It seemed as if it only took for him to look at Lance and he could see right through him. He understood him deeper than anyone, even better than Hunk, who had been his best friend for years.

“No.” Lance said, because he was tired, and he was sick of running away, and he was sort of resented with Keith for leaving again. Because Lance loved Keith, and he was _tired_.

Keith tensed a bit, grimacing again, it looked as if he wasn’t expecting that sort of answer. They sat there in silence for a while. Lance thought Keith wouldn’t say anything else, that they’d just sit in silence and stare at the stars like they’ve done before, before Keith left for the Blade of Marmora, when Lance missed home too much to sleep and Keith had as much trouble sleeping.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to make things better.”

Lance scoffed. “Right.”

Keith looked confused for a second, and then, frowning; “I really am, Lance. I don’t like seeing you so down.”

“Then why’d you left?” Lance spat, resentment and hurt impossible to hide anymore.

Keith looked like that was the least he was expecting when he started that conversation, he looked more surprised now, like he was trying to process it all.

Silence. And then; “I left because of you.”

Now it was Lance’s turn to look out of place, to frown in confusion, because; “What?” 

“I left because of you, so that you wouldn’t leave, so that you wouldn’t ‘step aside for the team’. Because they need you more than they’d ever need me.”

“But _I_ needed you.” Lance said, honesty dripping from each word because, at this point, he didn’t care, he just wanted to come clean and free these feelings; feelings that felt too heavy on his chest by now. He couldn’t keep running away anymore. “I… I loved you, Keith. I love you.”

Silence. So present and heavy and suffocating and—.

“I love you too.”

Lance opened his eyes, only now realizing he had closed them out of fear and nervousness, and looked at Keith wide-eyed. He was met with a warm smile and violet eyes looking at him with sincerity and so much love, it took his breath away.

“W-What.”

“I love you. I couldn’t bear to see the person I most loved doubt himself, think that he wasn’t worthy enough for Voltron; so, I left. I left to protect the person I most loved, the Lance who was sure of himself, the sharpshooter who’d save the whole universe.”

Lance felt like he could cry, a mix of sadness now melting into happiness and love and a bunch of emotions hard to pin down. Keith rested a hand on Lance’s cheek, soft, nice.

“But I’ll always be here for you, Lance. And, if you want me to, I’ll stay by yourself for as long as we can.”

Lance looked at Keith, blue eyes against violet ones, and he smiled –relieved, happy; in love.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


	10. Jackets, flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m lost.” He blurted out, interrupting Lance, and now he looked even more confused.   
> “What? But we’ve been in the Garrison for—.”  
> “Can you give me directions to your heart?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight mention of biphobia !!

“Lance looooves flirting and acting all loverboy Lance, but when it’s the other way around, well, let’s just say I’ve never seen him so flustered as that time a pretty girl came to flirt with him before he even saw her.” Hunk said, laughing while recalling the memory. “Man, his face was all red and he couldn’t even answer back.”

“Oh, my god!” Veronica, Lance’s big sister, laughed too, probably picturing that pretty well. “I’ve got a better one!” She announced, trying to recover from her laughing fit but it only got funnier when she remembered that thing she was about to tell them. “There was this time when we were in Varadero, like every other summer, and we saw some cute girls playing volleyball. Me being the big lesbian I am and Lance being… well, Lance, we decided to go there and you know, play it cool, ask if they needed some more players.”

“Okay, it was all good, going according to plan, they did need some extra players. Then, after a while of Lance throwing around some of his pick-up lines,” Here Veronica stopped once more to try to contain her laugh. “one of the girls –the one Lance was flirting with– flirted back. I don’t remember what she said exactly, but it got Lance so flustered that, face completely red, he didn’t even calculate where he was aiming the ball and the ball—” More laughing. “the ball landed straight-up the girl’s face.”

The three of them laughed, hard, imagining the situation and just how embarrassed Lance must’ve been. Admittedly, Keith, funny as it was, felt a bit bad for Lance.

Keith didn’t know how this all started, how he had ended up in a coffeeshop not too far from the Galaxy Garrison with his crush’s sister and best friend but, at some point, the conversation had settled on embarrassing loverboy Lance stories and he wasn’t one to complain about it. Not when they were all so funny and opened up a door to a completely new façade of Lance. 

Okay, maybe he did know how it all started. Turns out, Lance was surrounded by really perceptive people who you could not fool no matter how indifferent and cold you acted. So, that considered, it was no surprise they came to him one day with the whole ‘We know you like Lance’, ‘Like? Oh, Veronica, you’re missing days and days of inside info in space because, nope, not like, I’d very much say he _loves_ Lance. Come on, _Vero_ , I trusted you, thought you’d seen how this one looks at your brother as if he has the wedding planned, the house bought and, oh my god, he even has the dog already!’. He had turned completely red, because he didn’t think it was that obvious that he liked –okay, maybe he was _a bit_ in love with him– Lance, not so much that Hunk had been listing to him all the clichés one would list when thinking about spending the rest of your life with someone. After that, there was no complaining, they both dragged him to that coffeeshop because ‘You can’t keep bottling up your feelings like that!’.

“As much as I’m enjoying hearing all these stories and I’m gathering so much teasing material, what exactly is all of this? Why’d you bring me here?” Keith finally asked.

The other two, sitting in front of him, exchanged looks before looking back at Keith. They looked at him with fondness and something else, something Keith couldn’t really name, it wasn’t pity, it was more like… compassion?

“We know you like Lance.” Veronica stated.

“Yeah, you already said that before dragging me here.”

“We know you like Lance, and we also know Lance likes you too.” Veronica added now and, wow, yeah, okay, very funny. If they wanted to mock him, there were other ways –more credible even–, than saying their dear local loverboy, always flirting with girls, in love with Allura, liked _him_.

“Yeah, right, very fu—.”

“He does like you, Keith.” Hunk interrupted and the serious look he gave him made him doubt about his ‘this whole thing is just a joke’, because Keith only ever saw that look when things were very important.

“Look, I know my brother –he’s an insecure little shit, a scaredy-cat, and thinks he’s straight when, really, he’s as straight as a circle. He can be many things, but I’m telling you he’s neither straight nor in love with Allura.” Veronica said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Keith paused, confused, so confused, because how could Lance, for starters, not be straight? He only ever sees him flirting with girls.

“Yeah, I know, he’s all the time flirting with girls.” Veronica continued, maybe seeing his dumbfounded expression. She looked down at his coffee, a somehow sad smile on her lips as she absentmindedly played around with the spoon inside her cup. “He’s insecure, as I said, I think he… I think he thinks if we all knew he also likes guys we would think different of him, that we’d hate him or something.”

“But you like girls, right? Doesn’t your family know you’re a… lesbian?” Keith awkwardly asked, he was so bad with serious conversations, and with talking to people he didn’t really know that much; or just talking really.

Veronica chuckled. “Yeah, our family knows, and they’re supportive.”

“So?”

“Sometimes they’ve said some biphobic shit, I think that’s why Lance’s so afraid to accept who he really is.” Veronica frowned. “They’re all like ‘I’m okay with gays and lesbians –you know we love and accept you fully, Veronica–, but I really can’t understand bisexual people. Can’t they just pick a side? Seems to me like they’re just greedy.’ And that’s… that’s fucked up. I can see why Lance would be afraid to accept who he is but… But I truly believe our family would accept him, maybe it’d be surprising, maybe it’d take some time for them to understand it and accept it, but they love him, and they’d want nothing more but for him to be happy.”

Hunk nodded next to her. “Yeah, and clearly he’s not gonna be happy with Allura.”

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Hunk raised a hand to stop him.

“Listen, I’m not telling you he doesn’t like, even love, Allura, but I’ve never seen him look at her the way he looks at you.” Hunk smiled. “Damn, remember the bonding moment? That was gay af.”

Keith laughed, playfully smacking Hunk’s arm.

“So, you’re telling me this because…?” Keith hesitated, not really understanding the whole point.

“Because you have to go and flirt with Lance!” They both said in unison.

Keith turned completely red.

—

Okay, flirt with Lance, ask him out on a date –maybe to the coffeeshop? It was a nice place after all. Or maybe they could go out for dinner? Or just a simple walk in the park?–, easy. It couldn’t be that hard, right? People flirted and dated other people all the time. He could do it too.

At least, that’s what Keith told himself, as his own personal peep-talk, while looking for Lance around the Galaxy Garrison.

He had agreed to do this, to give it a shot and flirt with Lance, because Veronica and Hunk had insisted so much. They knew Lance better than anyone else, so they had to be right about this. Right? Keith hoped so. He didn’t want to look like an asshole who flirted with a straight guy who was also interested in a girl already –a girl that he was friends with also, just to make matters worse. But maybe he needed to do that, not only for Lance, but also for himself. He had been holding onto these feelings for so long, _years_ , maybe it was time to let them go. At best, his feelings would be returned, at worse, he was rejected, things turned a bit awkward, but he was able to move on, to let go of Lance.

He found Lance outside, near the hangars where the Garrison kept all their spaceships, talking with Shiro and Allura. Great.

He approached them, nervous, so nervous he could almost feel his legs shaking at every step he took and his face burn. Shiro eyed him weird at first but then, maybe remembering the conversation they had had where Keith had asked him how were you supposed to flirt –it had been so embarrassing, with Adam insisting on how Shiro was a chaotic gay and ‘Don’t ask him! He came to me with some cheesy pick-up line and he even forgot it half-way through saying it!’–, he quickly told Allura to follow him and dismissed Lance.

“Thanks for your help, Lance! I just need Allura to help me with this altean thing and we’ll be done for the day.”

Lance nodded and then turned to Keith. “Hey, mullet.”

Keith was panicking, _gay_ panicking. He knew he had to say something, at least saying hello back would be nice, but he was panicking, and his mind was on overdrive going over all of those silly pick-up lines he had googled on a panic episode at three am last night.

“Are you—?” Lance tried to say, his face growing more confused and worried by each second Keith stayed quietly staring at him. Maybe his face reflected his panic well, too.

“I’m lost.” He blurted out, interrupting Lance, and now he looked even more confused.

“What? But we’ve been in the Garrison for—.”

“Can you give me directions to your heart?”

Silence. Utter silence. (Except that maybe, if he wasn’t just imagining it out of shame, he thought he heard Shiro snort a laugh somewhere inside the hangar.) As for Keith and Lance, it seemed as if both their brains were taking its time to process what had happened. And then, Keith felt the heat rapidly creep up his neck, his face burning like no tomorrow. He felt so embarrassed he just wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. Lance’s face wasn’t much different, sporting a blush as intense as Keith’s.

“W-What?” Lance awkwardly asked.

Keith covered his face with both his hands.

“A-Aside from being sexy,” Keith stammered, voice muffled by his hands. “what do you do for a living?”

(This time, he definitely heard more than a laugh. Then, someone shushing someone while trying not to laugh. Some more contained laugher.)

He had lost it. He had definitely lost it. It seemed as if now, panic completely settled in, Keith’s mind couldn’t think about anything else than those damn pick-up lines. Oh god.

He peeked through his fingers a bit, trying to see Lance’s reaction. Was he disgusted? Creeped out? Was he already planning on which hospital to drop Keith?

Lance was smiling, face still kind of red but it definitely didn’t look as bad as Keith felt his own face. It wasn’t a mocking smile, as one would expect, nor exactly teasing either. It was… a fond smile?

He came closer to Keith, all alarms going off inside of him, face burning hotter by each moment passing. Lance grabbed his wrists, carefully pulling Keith’s hands away from his face. He looked at Keith in the eyes, without faltering. So close, they were so close.

“Are you from outer space? Because your body is out of this world.” Lance shot back then, and, okay, if Keith was red before maybe now he just invented a new color. 

“Y-Yes. I’m half-galra.”

Lance looked at him in silence for a few seconds, like he didn’t expect that sort of answer, and then he burst out laughing. His melodic laugh filling the space, sweet, loud. It made Keith’s heart flutter like every time he heard it. It made him lightheaded and it drove away his nervousness. 

“Man,” Lance said, between laughs, while Keith just observed him. “you really are funny.”

“Go out with me, then.”

And just like that, the roles were switched once more. Lance’s laugh stopped, and he blushed again, deep red.

“W-Wait. You weren’t joking?”

Keith shook his head, under the intense glare of the boy in front of him. “Nope, I really like you, Lance.”

Lance covered his face with his hands now. Groaned. Uncovered his face again, still red.

“I-I like you too.” He said, softly, barely above a whisper, his eyes not meeting Keith’s.

Keith smiled, because wow, that had been a big gay chaos, but it did turn out well at the end. Somehow. And maybe there were still things to figure out, a real pick-up line free conversation to be had, but if Lance still liked him after making a fool of himself like that, maybe Hunk and Veronica were right, maybe Lance did love him. And he definitely loved him too, so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love the concept of keith being a chaotic gay  
> i also googled those pick-up lines


	11. In battle, celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had felt it, like a light breeze, when he left the Black Lion, after they watched the sunset together. Something whispering ‘don’t leave’ and then, louder, ‘you’ll regret it’. But he had to leave, because his heart was beating fast, because, sitting next to Keith, it seemed as if he had never seen a sunset more beautiful than that. Because he was scared. Because Allura didn’t deserve him to leave her like all the others did. Because Keith would never love him, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before s8 dropped my friends and i fantasized about keith being controlled by honerva and keith and lance ending up fighting each other in the astral plane. too bad we got that shitty season instead. f.

****

Lance was sitting on his bed, in the Atlas, with Allura sitting between his legs, cuddling. It was all he had wanted since he had first laid eyes on her. He had wanted that for so long, to be with her, protect her and fight by her side. He wanted to cherish her, love her and make sure she never felt lonely again.

But something felt wrong.

Lance loved her, but sometimes it just felt like the love he had for her was not enough. Sometimes he found himself wondering if he was really cut out to give her everything she needed, if he was strong enough, sweet enough. _Enough_.

He also wondered if his feelings for her were strong enough.

Lance had wanted to be with Allura since he first laid eyes on her, yet, somewhere along the road, it felt as if he stopped chasing after her so fiercely. It seemed as if someone else took the princess place, slow but strong, pulling Lance towards _him_. But he left, and Lance was left to chase after old familiar and safe feelings, and forget about feelings so strong and unknown that he couldn’t even handle sometimes. He was tired of missing _him_. And maybe Allura was also tired of missing another _him_ , maybe they were both just lonely broken hearts looking for comfort in the warmth of arms that promised to hold them tight till the very end.

Lance wanted to forget –but he couldn’t.

He was with Allura, but his mind often travelled to Keith, to where he was, what was he doing, was he thinking about him like he was, did he care. His thoughts running and running. Since they came back to space, though, his Keith-related thoughts had gone wilder. Because there was something wrong with Keith. He had felt it, like a light breeze, when he left the Black Lion, after they watched the sunset together. Something whispering ‘don’t leave’ and then, louder, ‘you’ll regret it’. But he had to leave, because his heart was beating fast, because, sitting next to Keith, it seemed as if he had never seen a sunset more beautiful than that. Because he was scared. Because Allura didn’t deserve him to leave her like all the others did. Because Keith would never love him, anyway.

But now the ‘you’ll regret it’ was getting louder and louder, sometimes not even letting him sleep, eat, function like a normal person. Every time he looked at Keith, it seemed like something was just _off_. His eyes, those pretty, pretty lilac eyes, that shone with the force of galaxies, trapping the light of the sunset, were now dull, obscure. Keith never smiled anymore. Keith just focused on training, on missions, on fighting. Fighting, fighting, fighting. The real Keith, the one Lance hopped was the real Keith, the one he had fallen in love with, was just a shadow of what it used to be. And Lance was worried.

Was he the only one who noticed? Was he just imagining things, maybe because things with Allura didn’t work out as he had thought they would, maybe because he missed Keith? Maybe it was just the stress of the war that made him more apprehensive and paranoid.

But he wasn’t. He wasn’t wrong. Because now he was standing in the astral plane with Keith, just the two of them, and things hadn’t looked so bad in so long, maybe never before, and Lance felt like he was suffocating. He was scared. But he wasn’t scared for himself, he was scared for Keith. He didn’t want to lose him. Now he regretted it, now he wished he had been there for Keith. He should’ve been a better right-hand man because maybe then Honerva wouldn’t have gotten into Keith’s mind, messing with him, torturing him.

“Keith, please! Snap out of it, this isn’t who you are!” Lance screamed at him, trying to get him to be himself again, blocking Keith’s blade with his own sword –the one he had managed to unlock his bayard to be months ago.

It all had happened so quick, a blurry mess now if Lance looked back, to find out how they ended up there. They were in an easy mission. Free a galra-occupied planet, easy, they’ve done that before. But then Keith had lost it, kneeling on the floor, groaning in pain, eyes shining yellow. He had attacked them all, fast and unexpected. Lance had somehow been able to avoid Keith’s blade and knock him out, so he would stop harming them all and himself.

“ _I think… the only way we can save him is if we get him in the astral plane._ ” Allura had said, when they were all back in the Atlas, with Keith laying in one of the beds of the hospital bay.

It had taken arguing. It was definitely dangerous, and they had to weight out the pros and cons of taking such risk, maybe there was another way. But Lance wasn’t stepping back. Lance couldn’t just leave Keith alone, he couldn’t leave him to suffer under the filthy hands of that witch. Lance would travel the whole universe, from one end to the other, if it was to save Keith.

“ _If you die in the astral plane, your real body dies too._ ” Shiro had said, but he didn’t care.

“Shut up! I’m going to kill you, blue paladin!” Keith screamed back, his blade clattering hard against Lance’s sword.

Lance didn’t know for how long would he be able to hold him back, maybe coming here alone, defying the rest of his team, had been a bad idea. He was a long-range fighter, the sharpshooter, he wasn’t that good at close-range combat. Keith however? He was extraordinary at it, almost as if his blade was an extension of his body. It was no wonder, then, that Lance’s body was already so damaged, filled with cuts and bruises. Maybe he would really die there. To die by the hands of the one he most loved, what a sweet irony. 

Keith’s eyes shone yellow, it seemed as if his galra side was taking full control of himself now that he was under Honerva’s commands. Cold piercing yellow, blood-thirsty. His galra mark seemed to be burning on his ivory skin. He aimed his blade at Lance once more, but Lance couldn’t hold him back any longer, he couldn’t keep fighting back. Not with Keith.

He disposed his sword, the sound of it falling to the ground echoing through the void. 

“You wouldn’t hurt me. I know who you are, Keith.” Lance said, voice soft, unfaltering. Yet his eyes were filled with tears.

He looked at Keith, rage filled. Had he caused that? He should’ve been with Keith. He shouldn’t’ve left him like all the others did. He felt so terribly guilty. By now, that voice in the back of his head was no longer a whisper, it was screaming at him, loud, deafeningly loud, blaming him. 

Keith’s blade was going to hit him. He closed his eyes.

Lance mind was filled with Keith, no longer thinking about the blade that was about to stab him to his death.

Keith’s laugh, Keith’s pretty eyes. His frown, how he scoffed and shouted at him. Them, flying off into a cliff and Keith shouting at him to trust him. Them, back to back, climbing up the elevator. Keith always having Lance’s back and Lance having Keith’s. The deem lights of the Castle of Lions, Lance’s consciousness drifting off, holding Keith’s hand and melting into him. Maybe starting to fall, deep, warm, scarily known, for him.

_“We were like rivals! You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.” – “Oh, wait, I remember you.”_

_“We are a good team.” – “We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!”_

_“And Lance? Leave the math to Pidge.”_

_“He’s like– the future.”_

_“The Lance that’s the paladin of the Red Lion, the Lance who’s always got my back and the Lance who knows exactly who he is, and what he’s got to offer.”_

He opened his eyes again, getting a last glimpse of the beautiful figure that was Keith. Corrupted, darkened by the evil shadows of a war bigger than anything they could’ve ever thought when Shiro crash-landed back on Earth. 

“I love you, Keith.”

He saw Keith falter, his blade shaking in his trembling hands, his face contorted in pain.

“L-Lance?” A groan, his hands to his head. “G-Go away. I— I don’t wanna hurt you.” Shaky breaths. “Not you.”

But Lance didn’t listen, he never did. He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Keith. Keith tried to push him away, shouting anxiously at him, but Lance didn’t listen. He grabbed Keith’s face between his own trembling hands.

“You won’t hurt me, you wouldn’t ever hurt me, Keith.” He shook his head slightly, looking at Keith deep in the eyes, those that now had gone back to its beautiful lilac. “I’m not leaving, not now, not ever. I love you. I love you so much, Keith.”

But Keith stabbed him. 

—

“ _But what if he never wakes up? Shiro, I stabbed him!_ ” Lance heard that voice, muffled, familiar, one that settled a warm feeling in his stomach, but that also hurt to hear.

“ _Keith, it’s okay, you weren’t being yourself. Lance will wake up, he’s a tough guy. A tough, stubborn, reckless guy_.”

Where was he? Was he dead?

“ _If he doesn’t— if he doesn’t wake up, I—_." Was he crying? “ _I love him_. _And—and… He told me he loved me, and I fucking stabbed him!_ ”

Keith was crying, he could hear his sobs, just as his consciousness came back. Clearer now, Keith’s voice, his crying, filled the room. Lance forced himself to open his eyes, even if the light hurt his eyes, even if his head pounded and hurt and his chest still ached and burned.

He was in the hospital bay, in the Atlas, so he guessed he had made it out, somehow. And, somehow, Keith had made it out too. He smiled, because, despite the pain, Keith was okay. And that was enough.

“Lance?” Keith asked, his eyes impossibly wide, still filled with tears, with broken voice. “Oh, my god! You’re okay!”

And then Keith was hugging him, spreading warm all over Lance. His body burning everywhere Keith touched him, aching for more, closer. It was like coming back home.

“I’m so sorry, I— Oh, god, I’m so sorry.” Keith sobbed once more, holding him tight, Lance could feel his rapid heartbeat on his chest.

“We’re okay.” Lance whispered, he wasn’t sure if he said it because he couldn’t believe it and was trying to assure himself or if he was trying to assure Keith, comfort him. “You are okay.”

Keith chuckled softly, almost as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “Yeah… Yeah, we’re okay.”

Keith slowly pulled away, his eyes fixed on Lance, studying each one of his factions, as if he was trying to read him or make sure he really was okay. And Lance stared back. Shiro had left at some point, Lance hadn’t even realized he had, and now it was just the two of them in the room. Blue eyes against lilac ones. It was then, when Lance truly realized how much Keith meant to him, how wrong had he been chasing after someone else. He loved Keith. He loved him so much it hurt, so much it was scary sometimes. But they were okay. They were okay now and Lance knew that he would get stabbed again and again if only it meant he could preserve those lilac eyes, bright, full of life, full of love. He would do anything for Keith.

“I love you, Lance.” Keith whispered then, and Lance felt his heart skip a beat, his cheeks burn hot. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I hurt you. And—and I know you deserve someone better than me. You don’t deserve to get stuck with me, I’m— I’m a mess, Lance. All I ever do is mess things up, I run away, I hurt people and I… I push people away, I hurt them and I… I don’t want to hurt you, Lance.”

Lance grabbed Keith’s face between his hands, like he had done back in the astral plane, and their eyes met once more.

“I love you, Keith.” Lance whispered back, like a promise. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve noticed, I should’ve seen that you weren’t okay, that things weren’t okay. But I was scared and I… I ran away, Keith. I ran away from you because I was scared of facing my own feelings. I hid them behind what was supposed to be a perfect relationship with an alien princess but… but you were all I ever could think about, you were always in my mind. And then things got bad, really bad, and I felt like dying at the possibility of losing you. So, don’t ever think you don’t deserve to be with me, don’t ever think so lowly of yourself. I meant it, you know? Back in The Feud, you really are like the future. And maybe… if you want to….” Lance looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “if you want to… you could be Mr. Future Blue Lion, or Red Lion or—.”

Keith cut him off by kissing him, and Lance was glad because now he was just rabbling, nervous, and because Keith’s lips against his felt too good to keep talking. Lance melted into the kiss, Keith’s body towering over him, now sitting on the bed too, and Lance gripped the front of Keith’s t-shirt, pulling him closer. They kissed each other till they run out of breath, with their hearts beating hard and fast in their chests. With the promise of ‘I love you’ lingering in the air, with the sureness of everything being okay as long as they had each other.


	12. Letters, stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Dear Keith,  
> I miss you.  
> Lance.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've abandoned all hope of finishing this challenge before the years ends

It had been years since they had defeated the galra and come back home. Years since Lance and Keith had finally had the guts to stop bickering and acting like they hated each other and admitted that, really, they loved each other more than they could even imagine. That they needed the other by their side, forever. That’s how, after a few years of dating, back on Earth, in the peacefulness of a planet slowly recovering from a fierce war, they got married and moved in together. It had been a hell of a ride, but Keith was sure he wouldn’t change any of that for anything. He loved Lance.

He loved him in the mornings, when it took bothering him to no end and insisting a million times for him to get up, with a promise of hot coffee that had him sitting at the kitchen table with messy hair and barely opened eyes. Keith was a morning person, but, in Lance’s words, ‘don’t talk to Lance until he’s had his morning coffee’.

He loved him every time he made a mess in the kitchen trying to cook something for the both of them, a romantic dinner after a whole day at work. Keith would come home and find his lovely husband in an apron and all covered in flour because ‘we need a good desert too’.

He even loved him when they argued, because Lance was stubborn, because Lance drove him insane in ways no one else could; but he was too cute frowning. And he loved him, so the arguments were never too bad to ruin what they had.

Right now, it was one of those moments where Keith really loved Lance, but he was driving him insane.

“It has to be somewhere around here.” Lance said, rummaging through all of the drawers of their shared bedroom, filling the floor and every surface he found with clothes and random objects.

Keith stood by the doorway, trying to keep his cool. He was sure that, when Lance deemed that whatever he was looking for wasn’t there, he’d leave the room to make a mess in another room. And Keith would be left to tidy up.

“If you weren’t such a mess this wouldn’t be happening.” Keith answered back, not really trying to hide his annoyance. Lance didn’t seem as if he was listening to him as he left the room in a rush to, effectively, make a mess out of another room. “Besides, what are you even looking for?”

Lance’s answer came from somewhere in the living room. “It’s a secret!”

Keith sighed and sat on the bed, defeated. He’d had to accept that Lance wouldn’t let him help him –which would’ve maybe reduced the mess– and he’d just have to wait until he found _the thing_ and calmed down. He didn’t know what it could possibly be what Lance was looking for, but, whatever it was, it had his husband hysterical to find it. He also didn’t understand the urge to find it right now, when they were meeting with their friends in less than an hour and they still hadn’t even showered. Keith figured he’d go do that, maybe when he came out of the shower his husband may have found what he was searching for.

Keith went to pick up some clothes and underwear to go to the shower, among the mess in the room, when he noticed it. A notebook. It was under a pile of clothes and other books. Keith had never seen that notebook, which was odd since they had been living together in that house for years. It wasn’t his, so it had to be Lance’s. 

He carefully opened it to see if it had a name or some distinctive that signalized that was Lance’s –maybe it was his, after all, and he had forgotten he even had that.

‘ _Querida Veronica_ ,’

He quickly recognized the Spanish, even if he didn’t know what that meant –although, from the context he guessed it meant something like ‘Dear Veronica’– and the name on the page being one of Lance’s sisters. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t his. Was that some sort of diary?

Keith didn’t mean to pry, he just wanted to see what that was all about, he wasn’t going to actually read anything –not like he was going to understand anything if it was written in Spanish. So, he flipped through a few more pages. Keith found out, after looking through the notebook, that those seemed to be letters Lance had written for different people. Some in Spanish, some in English. There were letters for family members, to friends –he found some addressed to Hunk and Pidge–, even some that must’ve been written in space since they were addressed to Allura, Coran, Shiro, and… _Keith_?

Keith stared at his name, neatly written in cursive blue ink. ‘ _Dear Keith,_ ’. And, the thing was, there wasn’t only one, or two, letters –there were so many.

What the actual fuck.

Lance and Keith used to argue all the time, they didn’t get along for so long. It wasn’t until the very end, when they got back to Earth, that their relationship got better. So, what could Lance possibly write about him? He had read little fragments of the letters addressed to friends and family, some being about how Lance missed them, or things he loved about them, or things that had annoyed him.

So, Keith, curiosity eating him inside, started reading the first letter he stumbled upon, the date indicated it had been written when Keith was already with the Blade of Marmora. He was expecting to read about how much Lance hated his mullet, how annoying he found him, how he didn’t understand why he got to be the leader and not him…

But—

‘ _Dear Keith,_

_I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I thought I wanted this. If you were out of the picture, I wouldn’t have any rivals, I would be the best of the best, with a space princess and all. But, I miss you. I miss you so fucking much and I don’t understand why. Besides my family, I never missed someone so much.’_

Keith stopped reading, closing the notebook abruptly. He felt like he had just read something so private, so secret, he felt his cheeks burn. He wasn’t expecting to read something like that, at all. No way Lance missed him that much when he left, right? Maybe it was just a letter, at the beginning, when things were still fresh. Maybe the changes affected Lance a bit, he was feeling kind of insecure when Keith left, after all.

Keith listened to Lance still rummaging through their living room, making sure Lance wasn’t near and he wouldn’t catch him snooping on his stuff.

This time, he picked a letter months after he left –still surprised to see so many letters.

‘ _Dear Keith,_

_I miss you. It’s been months but I still miss you so much, I think I even miss you more by each passing day. And it’s weird, I know it is, I keep thinking about how weird it is to miss your rival this much but… but I do. I miss you._

_I’ve been thinking and maybe Allura and I aren’t meant to be. She’s all the time with Lotor, she doesn’t even see me. I wonder how things would be if you were still here. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so alone. We would probably argue all the time, but I actually don’t really hate you? I actually think you look really cute when you’re angry. And you’re there for me. No one else seems to be there for me these days. I feel like I’m just a seventh wheel. Do I even belong in Voltron? It really should’ve been me who left, not you._

_Come back soon._

_I miss you._

_I love you._

Lance.’

Keith looked at the words on that page wide-eyed, with a flush creeping up his neck, his mouth slightly agape. He couldn’t believe what he had just read.

Had Keith leaving really hurt Lance that much? He thought he was doing the right thing, he thought him leaving would help Lance and the team. He thought Lance didn’t love him back.

He didn’t have time to further question anything as he heard a loud gasp coming from the door.

“You found it!” Lance said. So that was what Lance was looking for, the notebook. And then, noticing Keith had it open, panic quickly settled in Lance’s face. “ _Ay dios_ , tell me you didn’t read it.”

And really, what was the point of denying it? Keith had the notebook open in his hands. He had been caught red-handed.

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know what it was, so I was just… I was just…” He didn’t know what to say, how to excuse himself. Clearly, that was something important for Lance. And, clearly, it was personal. So freaking personal. Keith shouldn’t’ve left his curiosity take the best of him.

“ _Joderrr_.” Lance said, rolling the ‘r’ and covering his face with his hands, slowly sitting on the bed. “Just kill me.”

Keith, despite his husband’s embarrassment and how much he’d probably fucked up, chuckled. It was always sort of funny to see Lance being dramatic. It was something that used to drive him crazy, but now he found it endearing in its own way. Because Lance cared about things.

He came closer to Lance, passing an arm behind his shoulders and pulling him towards him. He left the notebook on Lance’s lap, returning it to its rightful owner.

“It’s okay, Lance, I didn’t read much.” He tried to fix it, make Lance feel better. “But I’m sorry, so sorry. I shouldn’t’ve read something so personal, I should’ve stopped at ‘ _Querida Veronica’_.” 

Lance laughed.

“God, I really need to teach you some Spanish, your pronunciation is awful, _cariño_.” Keith laughed too. Lance’s face fell again, his cheeks getting red, and then, looking at the floor; “Did you… read your letters?”

Keith gulped. Yes, he had read some. But he knew Lance, he’d get so embarrassed and that was, definitely, cent per cent, something that Keith shouldn’t’ve read. Still, it seems like Keith’s silence spoke for himself, as Lance sighed, defeated.

“Look, Keith, I… I was… sort of upset when I wrote most of those things. Plus, no one was meant to read those, those are just things I write to bent.” Lance explained, playing with the notebook in his hands.

He looked nervous, his eyes not meeting Keith, instead focused on anything else. The notebook, the floor, his blue worn-out jeans. Keith knew what that meant, it was Lance’s fears and insecurities. It seemed as if he felt he needed to explain himself or Keith would leave. And Keith wanted to kiss him and pull him close because he would never leave.

“I didn’t know you missed me so much.” Keith answered, wanting to let Lance know what he had read, to calm him down, to pull him out of his thoughts.

He was also curious. Lance didn’t seem like he missed him or loved him back in those days. They were always bickering or barely talking. And Lance liked Allura. He was always flirting with her. 

Lance let out a soft laugh, still not meeting Keith’s eyes.

“Yeah… I realized I might’ve loved you for a long time way too late, you were already gone and I… I missed you.”

Keith felt his heart skip a beat. “Y-You did?”

Lance chuckled again and then, breathy voice, almost a whisper. “Yeah…”

They fell into silence. Keith was surprised, he wasn’t aware of any of that. Did the others know?

He felt guilty knowing he had left his now-husband all alone, missing him, with those unrequired feelings for years. Lance had been feeling alone for so long. And he had no idea.

“I loved you too. Back then, I mean, I love you a lot now, too.” Keith awkwardly provided, Lance deserved to get his own dose of Keith’s secrets too, he guessed. Lance finally looked at him, a curious look in his eyes. “I… I actually fell for you back when Zendak took the Castle of Lions, you know, with the bonding moment.”

Lance opened his eyes wide. “But that was _years_ ago!”

Now it was Keith’s turn to be embarrassed, but he guessed it was well-deserved.

“Yeah… I know…” He felt his cheeks burn. Still, he turned to look at Lance, determined, and grabbed both his hands in his. “I’m sorry I left, I thought I was doing the right thing, you were doubting about you belonging in Voltron and I hated to see you doubt yourself. I left for you. I didn’t know I was hurting you by doing so. I’m sorry, baby.”

Keith kissed Lance’s hands, softly, seeing the blush creep to Lance’s cheeks.

“It’s…. it’s okay… you didn’t know.”

They looked at each other, silence lingering, slowly melting away the awkwardness.

“I love you.” Lance said then.

Keith smiled. “I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was in the middle of writing this when this whole idea reminded me of smile for the stars and oh god war flashbacks still not over that  
> but yeah, honestly i also like to do that, whenever i feel bad i write down whatever im feeling and it helps me vent (is this a writer thing?)


	13. Forgiveness, close call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He thought of Lance. Of his pretty blue eyes, reminding him of blue skies he now wished he had spent more time looking at, instead of spending his time on Earth picking fights and regretting his losses. He thought of Lance, standing tall and strong, fearlessness in his gaze, even when Keith knew just how insecure he could get. Lance was so much, and he didn’t even realize. Now it hurt to think he wouldn’t be able to remind him of that, or see his pretty blue eyes anymore, or his smirk everytime bad puns rolled out of his tongue. He wished he had kissed him, till they were out of breath –it would have felt much better than this lack of oxygen. 
> 
> He wished things would’ve been different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise i haven't abandoned this challenge!! i'm still gonna write klance, i'm in too deep to let go of this ship and this fandom. it's just that s8 kinda destroyed me, so it hurt to think of ideas for some of these prompts, then finals came and my inspo left for war and omg i've been through the worse writer's block lately aaaaa. but i'm back and i'll try to finish this.

It was hard. It was harder than Keith had imagined it would be. Because even after all those years –in the Castle of Lions, then with the Blades, then back with Voltron and back to Earth– thinking about how it’d feel to lose Lance to someone else, bracing himself for that pain; it wasn’t enough damage control. Keith’s chest hurt every time he saw Lance and Allura.

He was happy for Lance, it was all he had ever wanted and Keith was ready to accept that. But it hurt so much, and part of him didn’t want to accept it. Because, if he accepted it, it meant all those moments with Lance meant nothing. Every time they bickered and every time they had each other’s back. Late night conversations watching the stars in the bridge of the Castle of Lions and grumpy sleepy mornings in the lounge. The bonding moment that was supposed to ease things out, make them closer. Keith was hoping things would change after that, because maybe that’s also when he realized he was in love. But it didn’t, because Lance was as changing as the ocean he so loved, because one moment it felt as if maybe things could work out between the two of them, and the next one he was running off to Allura. He said he had missed him when he came back, but then he spent their time on Earth with the princess. He chose him on that game –out of all of them, with that cheesy line about him being the future– but then, apparently, he wasn’t good enough to be chosen as a significant other; that was Allura. It was always Allura.

He hadn’t felt like himself since Lance and Allura started dating.

It was dumb, he was happy for Lance, but at the same time, deeply hurt. It had felt like a blow straight to the stomach when Lance came to him back on Earth, to ask for dating advice and then sat to watch the sunset next to him as if it was nothing. As if he couldn’t hear Keith’s heart beat fast at the beauty of the moment and break at the bitter taste of it all.

It had taken him so much to open up to these people, they felt like family, but now it almost felt as if they had all betrayed him. He didn’t want to hate Allura, and he didn’t, she was caring and strong, always there for them all. Hell, Keith was almost sure that if he manifested even a slight discomfort with their relationship Allura would break it off. But Keith didn’t want that.

Keith just wanted it all to be over, so that he could move on. He wanted to defeat the galra and start a new chapter of his life, maybe he could go back to the Blades, or settle down somewhere with his mom so they could catch up on all those years she couldn’t be next to him.

They just had to defeat all the robeasts and Haggar, then it would be all done. It would all end, finally, after years and years. Keith would be able to move on. He would be able to move on from a boy he loved too much, but that didn’t love him back.

It was all fine, he just had to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest, the tightness of his throat everytime he caught a glimpse of Allura and Lance together. He would just focus on the fighting, and everything would be okay. It was what he always did, wasn’t it? Mr. Disciplinary Issue, believing all his problems could be solved with anger and violence.

He thought he had more control over it now, though. He thought he could focus on fighting –spending hours in the training deck and pushing hard, maybe too hard, during battles– without completely losing control, without losing sight of what was important, of himself. But he was proved wrong the moment Haggar caught him off guard.

He was being tossed to the ground, again and again, by the witch’s magic. Even if Keith tried to fight it, it was too much for him, she was too powerful. It was even more useless fighting against that dark magic when Keith didn’t have his lion to cover his back nor his suit, since they had all disposed them in an attempt to not be tracked down. A futile attempt, looking back on it, since Haggar had still managed to find him. Now he was breathless, running out of oxygen. He felt dizzy, everything around him was blurry and spinning in circles. He needed to fight, but even his grip on his sword felt weak.

He fell to the ground, coughing, his lungs desperately begging for the oxygen that kept him alive, that made his body function. He could see, from the blurry corners of his vision, Haggar approaching. Her magic was crackling like fire, and he could faintly hear her speak to him.

“…soon gonna be dead… enjoy killing… black paladin…” Her voice felt like it was tuning in and out. Keith tried to focus, tried to stand up, at least keep his eyes open. But he felt powerless.

A bolt of her magic hit him on the ribs, making him groan in pain. Another hit. And another. Keith’s lungs were burning, he could barely see the enemy in front of him. That was it, he was gonna die like that, right there, all because of his recklessness and it was almost ironic how his anger issues literally were about to kill him.

He thought of Lance. Of his pretty blue eyes, reminding him of blue skies he now wished he had spent more time looking at, instead of spending his time on Earth picking fights and regretting his losses. He thought of Lance, standing tall and strong, fearlessness in his gaze, even when Keith knew just how insecure he could get. Lance was so much, and he didn’t even realize. Now it hurt to think he wouldn’t be able to remind him of that, or see his pretty blue eyes anymore, or his smirk everytime bad puns rolled out of his tongue. He wished he had kissed him, till they were out of breath –it would have felt much better than this lack of oxygen.

He wished things would’ve been different.

“…Eith!... Keith!”

That voice sounded so much like Lance’s it made him flinch, wondering just how far gone, how oxygen deprived his brain was, as to make him hallucinate Lance’s voice.

“Keith!”

Was he dead?

“Keith! Come on, buddy! Everything’s okay, I’ve got you, everything’s—.”

He felt hands on his body, lifting him up from the hard cold floor.

“Keith… C-Can you hear me?” Lance’s voice sounded broken, as if he was crying.

He felt something carefully being placed on his head and, suddenly, Keith found it wasn’t that hard to breathe, in fact, every new breath he took felt comforting. He felt his senses slowly come back to him, like a machine that had been shut down re-loading again, and slowly opened his eyes. He was instantly met with that beautiful blue sky, staring right back at him, with worry, like a stormy sky.

“Oh, my god, Keith! Don’t scare me like that! I thought… I thought I lost you!” Lance cried and then, arms were around him. He hugged him back, a little surprised, yet enjoying the warmth of Lance.

They pulled apart, Keith now feeling so much better, and it was then when he realized Lance was fully dressed on his blue paladin armor again. Except his helmet. He pulled his hands up to his head. He was wearing Lance’s helmet?

“You passed out because of lack of oxygen, I think, or maybe because of Haggar, or both or—.” Lance rambled, making Keith smile fondly. “Anyway, you needed oxygen, so I gave you my helmet. It’s okay!” Lance interrupted him, as if he could already sense the protest, and Keith closed his mouth again. “I had a lot of time to breath in oxygen before I came. And I’m really strong, this bad air’s nothing. I’m perfectly fine!”

Keith chuckled. He hadn’t realized just how much he had missed Lance’s goofiness. He hadn’t even realized it had been gone, he had been too focused on the fighting or avoiding him.

“Thanks, Lance.” He said, with a smile.

He couldn’t tear his eyes off Lance, his chest aching with feelings he knew would forever be unrequired. Get it together, Keith.

He went to stand up, the rest of the team were probably waiting on them, but he felt a hand on his arm keeping him on the ground.

Lance didn’t meet his eyes for a while, instead, looking at the sand floor with a troubled look on his face.

“Are you… Are you okay?” He asked after a while.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m fine now, it wasn’t that—.” Keith rushed to answer, taking the helmet off and giving it back to Lance, as if to prove his point better, but Lance cut him off.

“No. I mean—.” A sigh. Keith watched Lance play with the blue helmet in his hands, both of them being dumb enough to stand there breathing toxic air again. And then; “you’ve been really distant lately.”

Oh.

Great. So Lance had noticed, he had noticed enough to have him so upset he couldn’t even meet his eyes.

“I’m just trying to focus on the war, that’s—.”

“Please, don’t lie to me, Keith.”

And Keith met his eyes. Icy blue, staring right through him, as if he was made of glass, pinning him down. The intensity of his glare was enough to send a shiver down Keith’s spine, to feel himself tremble under the spotlight.

“I love you, okay!” He blurted out, not only surprising Lance with the sudden confession but himself too. He couldn’t believe he had just gone and said that to Lance. Lance, who was dating Allura. Lance, his teammate. Lance, his self-proclaimed rival. Lance, the boy who’d never love him back. “A-And I know you don’t feel the same. You have Allura. So that’s why… That’s why I’ve been distant. It hurts, Lance, it hurts to be so in love with you but you’re—.”

Lance cut him off again. But he never imagined just how good it’d feel to be cut off with a kiss. He opened his eyes comically wide, not expecting that in the slightest, his mind running a mile per hour. What… was happening? Why was Lance kissing him?

 _It doesn’t matter_ , his mind provided. And, for once, he decided to listen to that voice. To shut his brain off, again, and just not think, just focus on the kiss. Keith only payed attention to Lance, how good he tasted, like raindrops and the ocean, his tongue against his. Their breaths getting more labored, but none of them caring, instead pulling closer, deeper into the kiss. Keith’s hands found its way to Lance’s smooth face, caressing it as they kissed, and he felt Lance’s own hands playing with his hair, because he surely hated his mullet _sooooo_ much. 

When they pulled apart, after a wild make out session in the middle of a foreign planet, they were both breathless.

“What… What was that?” Keith asked after a few seconds of silence, utterly confused.

Lance’s gaze went back to his helmet, dubious, before coming back up again in full strength, his blue eyes almost burning him.

“I love you too.” Lance confessed. Keith still felt like his head was spinning, still confused, but before he could ask, Lance spoke again. “I broke up with Allura. She… She was great, don’t get me wrong, she’s strong and sweet and… and… also not what I truly wanted… or needed.” Lance confessed, honesty dripping from every word. “Keith, I’ve tried to ignore this for too long, pretend it wasn’t there. I played dumb, pushing these feelings away. I couldn’t be gay, right? Or bi, really. No offense.” He quickly added, and Keith realized he may have been glaring. “But I am. I am bi and very in love with you. I’m sorry it took me so long to come to terms with it, I’m sorry I hurt you all along, I’m sorry it took me to see you almost die to gather up the courage to do this.”

Lance looked truly regretful, and it melted Keith’s heart a bit. He had waited for so long but, did it even matter? For Lance he’d wait all the years it was necessary.

So he smiled, and softly shook his head.

“It’s okay, I understand.” And, before Lance interrupted him; “I don’t mind waiting, for you. I’ll always wait for you, Lance.”

Lance smiled, softly. Keith felt like a weight being lifted off him, and it seemed as if Lance had also disposed of that heavy burden.

Lance took his hand, caressing its rough edges, callused from all the battles fought, and placed a kiss on it.

“I love you.” He repeated, softer this time, and Keith couldn’t stop the smile from breaking through his face.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you'd think after more than a month i'd be fine writing / thinking about s8 but nope, still not over that shit, it hurt writing this lol


End file.
